Paleo Cassava Flour Brownies

My first time using Ottos Cassava Flour and it did not disappoint!   The problem with eating all the Halloween candy that I splurged on is, it literally leaves me addicted to refined sugar lack a crack addict that can only think about their next fix and the extreme measures they might go to to get it!!  Like ALL day long all I could think about was sweets!    And it damn sure doesn't help when my hubs comes home and starts giving me shit for throwing out all the junk in the house!   The boss man had a meeting tonight so I told him I would do us both a favor and make some paleo brownies to ease us back into normal life.   Now I've had Ottos Cassava Flour in the cupboard but Ive yet to try it out so I figured this was a great time to do so, and I'm not lying when I say these are the closest things to gluten filled brownies that I've ever tasted!   The brownies totally did the trick and I don't feel guilty about this splurge either!  

Ingredients:

Melt:

1 cup chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life) 

5 tbsp butter, ghee or coconut oil

Dry:

1 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup cassava flour

2 tbsp unsweetened cocao

1/4 tsp salt

Whisk:

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 8X8 baking dish with coconut oil.  

Melt chocolate chips and butter in saucepan on low just until melted.

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Whisk egg and vanilla in small bowl.

Add melted chocolate and eggs to large mixing bowl with dry ingredients.  Mix to form smooth batter.

Add to baking dish and sprinkle with extra Choc chips.  Cook for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  

Spinach Bacon Goat Cheese Frittata w/ Sweet potato Crust

I had no intentions of blogging this recipe, not sure why, but anyways that's why I don't have pictures for you except for the finished product.  But let me tell you it's a good one.  A different way to have eggs then just plain old scrambled and you could really add anything you want to this recipe.  So give it a try.  And cook time will vary just make sure when you give it a good shake the middle is firm!  

INGREDIENTS

• 10 eggs
• 3 pieces cooked bacon chopped 
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 2 small sweet potatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
• 2 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
• 1 cups baby spinach (give it a few chops with a knife if you'd like)
• ⅓ cup goat cheese (about 3 ounces, use regular or herbed goat cheese
• Hot sauce 
• One half a yellow onion chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs a pinch of salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper and red pepper flakes. A couple dashes of hot sauce to your liking.  
2. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into ¼-inch cubes. In a 10-inch sauté pan (or well-seasoned cast iron skillet), warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the potatoes and toss to coat, then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and stir. Cook the sweet potatoes, stirring occasionally, until they are cooked through and have brown marks, 10 to 15 minutes (add another little splash of olive oil if the potatoes start sticking to the pan).
3. Add the onion, spinach and bacon to the egg mixture. 
4. Whisk the eggs one last time and pour them over the swet potato. Crumble the goat cheese with your fingers or a fork over the top of the frittata. Put the pan in the oven and bake until you can shake the pan (wear oven mitts!) and see that the middle is set, about 15 to 25 minutes depending on oven and pan used
5. Set the frittata aside for a few minutes before slicing it. Add hot sauce or salsa if you prefer.   And enjoy

-Jess 

#1 Killer of Americans... And it's not measles.

With all the buzz of Measles articles on my newsfeed it got me thinking and of course researching because that's what I do.  First off I'm not making any pro or anti vaccination claims here, so don't go off on that, I choose not to judge others for their decisions on that subject as I don't fully know everyone's circumstances. But what I did find In my research is this.  World wide the death rate from measles is this number .00328%.  Again not a should we vaccinate or not post. My research also shows this.  Almost 600,000 people in the United States alone die of Heart Disease in a year. That's 1 in 4 people.  Maybe we are ALL talking about the wrong subject here. I personally have never lost a loved one to measles nor do I know anyone who has. I have however lost loved ones to heart disease. And if I had to guess almost every single one of you have too.  There is no vaccination for heart disease.  And while I completely understand that every situation is different and some of these people have had congenital heart defects, the vast majority did not. Which leads to the causes of Heart Disease.  Let me list them.. High Blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, excessive alcohol and caffeine use, drug use, stress, diet and over the counter prescription use. WOW!  Every single thing I just listed has one thing in common. YOU!  Or ME!  As in I am in control of ALL of those things to some degree.  So even more than, measles, cancer, accidents, you name it, we are killing ourselves with poor decisions that could be reversed.  So why are we not talking about this?  Why are we the most obese nation eating food that other countries ban, working jobs that we hate and stress us out, smoking even though we know it's bad for us, and not exercising?  And I am not judging by all means. I'm just as guilty of some of these.  But if we truly look at the issues here, it seems to me that maybe some of the things our news is pushing is more of a distraction to us then really helping us.  Or maybe we like that distraction because that gives us something to fixate on and not have to look at ourselves and see what we are doing to ourselves and our children.  Because it's easier to worry about Measles than it is to watch our diets, exercise, quit smoking, manage our diabetes and find ways to relieve stress from our lives.  I made a decision 2 and a half years ago when my health started failing me that I wanted to live and I wanted to live abundantly. I wanted to be able to have children and be healthy enough to watch them grow and live long enough to see my grand children and maybe great grand children.  So I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that I was able to live that life, and if something tragic happened to me at least I could say it wasn't for lack of trying my best to live a healthy life.  What are you doing to say the same?  I challenge everyone to fixate our attention on ourselves. Let's quit judging others for whatever decisions they are making and solely worry about you.  Your health. Your body.  We are only given one life and one body to live it in so if we see a number as big as 1 in every 4 maybe we should take note and ask ourselves am I contributing to that number?  And could I possibly be making decisions on a daily basis to contribute to that number. If so what can I do starting now to make positive changes??  Ok rant over.  Go be healthy!  

Primal Shake N Bake Chicken

Because I don't know what to call this haha and Shake N Bake was the only breaded type Chicken I could think of ;)

So here you have it a primal version of Shake N Bake Chicken that we have my friend Janae to thank for. We went to her and Josh's house for dinner and she made this dish in it's original version for everyone which included flour. But being the good friend she is, she thought of me and made a gluten free version using almond meal. So I decided to replicate it because it was really good.  Now if you want to get down to the nitty gritty it is not technically Paleo it's Primal as it contains Parmesan cheese, so if you have problems with this swap out the Parmesan and use goats milk cheese and everyone can be happy. Unfortunately I did not take pictures as I wasn't planning on blogging this one but I realized after I ate it I just had to share this with you. Such a health way to switch up chicken that gets so boring! So here's what I used...

4-6 chicken breasts

1 cup Almond Meal

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

Your fav seasonings

2 eggs

Olive oil 

Lemon

Mix together the almond meal and Parmesan cheese and your seasonings. I used on that has garlic, onion powder, red pepper, sea salt.  Just make sure if you used pre packaged seasonings they are gluten free!  Add mixture to paper plate.  Preheat over to 350

Now whisk together your 2 eggs in a bowl big enough to put the chicken in. 

Now cover chicken in the egg then transfer into almond meal mixture and cover both sides. Set aside.  

In a skillet on the stove heat up Tbsp of Olive Oil on med-high heat. Cook chicken just until browned on both sides. Then place in a baking dish. 

Now slice the Lemon and put a piece on top of each chicken breast and put in oven. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes or until cooked all the way through. May take a little longer.  Now when you pull the chicken out use a fork and squeeze down on that piece of lemon and the leftover juice will run over chicken. 

Now serve with veggies/ salad/ sweet potatoes or whatever you like!  You got a healthy version of breaded chicken that is super yummy!  

Enjoy!

Jess

Paleo Granola

Paleo Granola

I ate some gluten free granola the other day and thoroughly.  It was pretty clean but it did have added cane sugar and oats and I try not to do grains and we all know what sugar does.  I've seen tons of paleo granola recipes but just didn't really want to bother with them in the past. Until I ate that granola and thought man that's was good. So maybe I should give paleo granola a chance. So I researched and I learned you can pretty much add whatever you want to granola.  So I went to my cupboard and pulled out everything I had on regards to nuts and dried fruit and figured I would give it a shot. And let me tell you best decision EVER!  It turned out so good!  You can use it as a cereal with almond or coconut milk, put it on top of Greek yogurt or just much on it!  Just one heads up though. It goes from done to burned very fast so at the end be watching it closely. My neighbor came over and started talking to me and I actually slightly burned mine. It was still amazing so I'll just be more aware next time.  Hope you love it as much as I do! 

Ingredients:

2 cup Walnuts

2 cup Almonds

1 cup Pepitas or Pumkin seeds 

1/4 cup uncooked Quinoa

1/4 cup Chia seeds

5 dried Figs

1 cup dried Cranberries 

1 cup unsweetened Coconut flakes

1 Tbsp Vanilla

1 Egg White 

2 Tbsp Water

3 Tbsp melted Coconut oil

1/4 cup Honey 

Tsp Cinnamon

Dash of Himalayan salt 

In a food processor chop up your nuts not too much but just chopped. Empty into a big bowl.

 Now take a small amount of your nut mixture and put it back into your processor and add your figs. Chop up until blended pretty well. The figs help add sweetness they aren't necessarily for chunks. Now add back to the big bowl. Stir in Chia Seeds, Quinoa and Cranberries and coconut flakes. Stir and mix well. 

Now in a small bowl add the egg white, water and all the liquid ingredients and the cinnamon and salt.   Mix well and add to your nut mixture making sure it is all coated with the liquid. It shouldn't be dripping just wet all over so add small amounts of the liquid at a time. 

Now place parchment paper over a cookie sheet and spread the mixture all the way out on the sheet. Your going to cook at 275 degrees for 20 mins then use a spatula and push up under the granola to flip. Put back in oven for another 15-20 mins. Watch it closely. It should feel slightly stiff and crunchy to the touch. But it won't be completely hard to the touch.

 You will take it out and let it cool. Once it has completely cooled you will use your spatula to go in a break it up. This is where it will be hard and cluster like. Add to a airtight container and there you go. Paleo Granola :)

Enjoy!  

Creamy Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup

Yesterdays cold and rainy weather called for a nice hot bowl of soup. I had tons of veggies I've been needing to use up before they went bad and of course my house always has sweet potatoes laying around so I decided to make sweet potato and carrot soup. This recipe turned out so dang good. Not to mention that between the potatoes, carrots, and other veggies with no added sugar or dairy products this soup is super clean eating and really nutritious!! I hope you give it a try because it is delicious and crazy easy to make!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion
1 cup celery
2 cups of baby carrots
3 sweet potatoes
3 cups organic chicken broth (or substitute of water)
3 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons organic Agave Nectar (or sub pure maple syrup)
salt and pepper to taste

 Directions:

Add olive oil to large Dutch oven pot set to medium heat. Chop onions, celery, and sweet potatoes (I leave skin on sweet potatoes for added nutritional value). Add onions and celery to pot and sauté for 5 minutes. Last minute add in nutmeg and cinnamon. Then add baby carrots and sweet potatoes with 3 cups of broth.

Bring broth to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and cover for 30 minutes. Once your veggies and potatoes are soft you can then use your hand stick blender to begin blending the soup to a nice creamy texture. If you don't have a hand stick blender you can transfer your soup out of your pot and into your normal blender to blend the soup. Last, add in your Agave nectar and salt and pepper to taste and give it one last blend.

 

 

 

That's it! Super easy and creamy sweet potato and carrot soup. I garnished my soup with toasted almonds, but you could also garnish with fresh chopped basil or parsley. I love the nutty and sweet flavor of this soup. It is a must try!!

 

 

 

 

-Rach

Paleomg Coffee Cake (w/ Pumpkin Spice)

So I made this Coffee Cake and it was so good. It's definatly not your usual coffee crumb cake as it has a more dense spongy texture from the bananas and eggs, but for someone who doesn't get bread this was amazing!  I loved that I didn't feel guilty eating it!  PLUS I made this recipe a little more interesting by adding Pumpkin Spice to it and I LOVED it!!  The topping is ANAZING!!!   I had to cook it about 10 more minutes longer than the her recipe called for.  You can find the recipe here

Www.paleomg.com

Or below.. 

Ingredients

• 3 brown bananas, mashed
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup almond butter (or other nut/seed butter)
• ¼ cup coconut flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp Pumkin Spice (optional)

For the toppings

• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) grass fed butter, at room temperature (or coconut oil)
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• 2 tablespoons almond flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup pecans, crushed 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8.5×4.5 baking dish with oil then line the middle with parchment paper. It will make it easier to remove from the pan without it coming apart.
2. In a large bowl, mix together bananas, maple syrup, vanilla extract, eggs, and almond butter.
3. Then add coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix well.
4. Pour batter into baking dish. Place on a baking sheet.
5. In a small bowl, add butter, coconut sugar, almond flour, cinnamon, and pecans. Use your hands to mix the toppings together.
6. Place chunks of the toppings all around the top of the banana bread mixture.
7. Place in oven to bake for 50 minutes.
8. Remove from oven, place on cooling rack and let rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Enjoy!!

-Jess