While I don't personally eat a lot of carbohydrates there are certainly times when I need a few more carbs (or just want some yummy sweet potatoes). When that is the case this is my go-to recipe! It is super simple and takes me very little hands-on time so that I can get on with doing other things before dinner time. INGREDIENTS:
PROCEDURE: 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Slice the sweet potato through to nearly the bottom (vertically). Continue cutting so that the slices will be very thin until you have an entire potato sliced but still connected along the bottom. I was having a bit of trouble with a borrowed knife... you would ideally like for the slices to be thinner than in the photo. 3. Place the potato on a baking pan with a lip on it so that the oil does not drip onto the bottom of your stove. 4. Fan the slices a bit so that there is a little separation between them to catch the oil and salt. 5. Drizzle olive oil over the potato generously.
6. Sprinkle sea salt to taste over the oil. You can also add any other seasonings you may want at this time such as garlic or paprika... whatever you are in the mood for! I really enjoy a little garlic and sea salt. 7. Bake for about 30-40 minutes (this can vary depending on how thinly you slice your potatoes so please check on them periodically). I'm all about working smarter, not harder. With a full time job, grad school, house hunting, choir practice and dance practice I just don't have time to waste in the kitchen no matter how much I love to cook. Anytime you see me make something that takes more than 20-30 minutes of hands-on time it is most definitely done on the weekend as a stress reliever and fun activity- I really do love to cook. I already mentioned in a previous post that I use my crock pot a lot... at least once or twice a week. I use it to make bone broth, whole chickens, stews and soups, roasts, BBQ, pretty much anything I can find a way to adapt to a crock pot I'll be making in that awesome kitchen gadget. I do this because the food is moist and tender at the end and it takes so much work off of my hands. BBQ Beef is just one of dozens of recipes I regularly make in my house for this very reason. It lasts me at least several days worth of meals plus more for the freezer to rotate into future meal planning... and the dogs usually get a bit as well just to be fair since they have to smell it cooking all day long while I'm at work. It smells pretty awesome. I use a BBQ dry rub but you can easily sub in a sauce or glaze if that's how you like your BBQ- just make sure to either make it yourself or check the ingredients to insure that you know what you are putting into your body. When you are using a crock pot it is usually best to quickly sear all sides of your meat before placing them in the crock pot. I have found that it is not 100% necessary to do this but it does help to seal in some of the juices which will create meat that is very moist and tender. To sear your meat simply heat a skillet on the stove top and place your meat inside once it has reached high temperature. After a few seconds you can turn it to another side. Continue doing this until all sides of the meat are seared. It is quite simple and very fast. The only thing left (other than putting it in the crock pot) is to rub in your dry rub mix of choice. Mine is here. I always use quite a bit of the rub and occasionally will add a little citrus juice on top right before I close the lid (not a lot, maybe the juice of one medium orange) though I did not do so today. If there is a fat cap (layer of fat) you will want this face up so that the fat will melt slowly and baste your meat throughout the cooking cycle. I don't stick with just one cut of meat when doing this type of meal. Since the slow cooking process produces very tender meat you can easily use cheaper cuts of meat and get very tasty result all the same. I usually do all of my slow cooking overnight these days so this lovely dish cooked for between 10-12 hours on low but if you want to do 6-8 hours you can set the temperature to high. The meat literally fell apart when I took it out of the crock pot.
Here is a quick and simple dry rub for some tasty BBQ. I will be using it in tomorrow's post to make Crock Pot BBQ Beef but it is great using other cooking methods as well. This is a staple on my household spice shelf... because, no lie, it is a whole shelf in my pantry. I love experimenting in the kitchen with my cooking so there are always a large variety of spice jars and mixtures lining my shelves at any given moment. As I already explained my reasons why I make a lot of my own spice mixtures, including rubs, at home in a previous post (saves money and there are no harmful additives or added sugar) I'll keep it short and sweet and just pass along the recipe. Happy cooking!
INGREDIENTS:
PROCEDURE: 1. Mix all spices together well. You can use a spoon, a whisk, or (if you want a really fine powder that is more consistent) you can even use a Magic Bullet or other processor. 2. Store in an airtight container. As I already discussed in a previous post, I am just starting out on my Paleo baking journey but I love cooking and baking so I am always trying out new recipes and variations. Here is a variation of the apple spice cake that actually turned out quite different in the end as a pineapple upside down cake. Again, I understand that a lot of people who eat a Paleo diet abstain from butter and other dairy products, but I do not. I stick to a high fat, low carb real-food inspired Primal/Paleo/Ancestral style of eating that allows for quality dairy. If you don't do well with dairy then you can go back to coconut oil in equal amounts as the butter and the consistency will work just fine. INGREDIENTS:
PROCEDURE: 1. Core and slice your pineapple if you did not purchase it sliced. I used the Pineapple Corer I reviewed here. 2. Juice about half a lemon (again, I was making more in the photo than necessary as I was planning on using it for additional recipes... work smarter and not harder right?). 3. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 4. Mix all dry ingredients other than baking soda in a bowl. 5. Mix all other ingredients except the pineapples and syrup in a second bowl. You will only use half of the honey (1/2 C) at this time. 6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl slowly while combining. Mix until smooth and well combined. *When I took the photos I added the spices after combining but realized this was unnecessary... so there is slight discrepancy here but it gives you an idea of the consistency. (I made both the apple cake and the pineapple cake on the same evening to take in to work for a treat so they have many of the same photos.) 7. Slightly oil the baking pan you are using. You can use butter, coconut oil, etc. 8. Mix remaining syrup and honey together and spread in the bottom of the pan. 9. Place your pineapple into the bottom of the pan. I don't like cherries particularly well so did not use them but feel free to do so... or get creative in the design of your pineapple pieces even! I love cooking because it is creative and fun... have fun! 10. Bake in the oven for about 5-8 minutes. 11. Remove from oven and pour batter over the pineapple, smooth and return to the oven to bake for another 15-20 minutes. Depending on the dimensions of your pan you may need to adjust the cook time. Thicker cakes will take longer to cook through. The cake needs to be browned on the top and firm throughout or it will be too moist to eat as a cake once it cools. 12. Allow the cake to cool before removing and flipping the cake to make the pineapples right side up.
I had a bit of a kitchen mishap when I flipped mine and it did not look very pretty as a result (people who are klutzy should not attempt to flip cakes, just sayin'... next time I'll take a photo of how it looks completed. Happy baking! It get's costly to purchase a store bought rub or spice mix any time I want to make something (and there are usually added sugars and other chemicals that I don't want to eat) so I mix my own spices in bulk for things I make regularly. For me this means that, in addition to the dozens of individual spices I have in my cabinet, I have small mason jars of mixes and rubs in the pantry all of the time. It saves me money but, even more importantly on days I get home tired and need to cook still, it saves me time and effort. $1.50 for a packet of taco seasoning or $0.25 or less using quality ingredients and no fillers... let me think... easy decision, right? Right now I only have a couple homemade mixes on the shelf as I have been a little lazy lately and just thought "I'll do it later" when I ran out of things but I have: BBQ dry rub, Rotisserie rub and taco seasoning. This is the recipe for the rub I used on tomorrow's post on the Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken. One note: It does cost more upfront to purchase all of the ingredients to make your own spice mixtures but the per portion cost is lower... so if you are like me and on a budget it might be easier to start with one mix at a time and see how often you use it before mixing up another batch of something so that you don't have unused spices sitting for months on end. INGREDIENTS:
PROCEDURE: 1. Mix all spices together well. You can use a spoon, a whisk, or (if you want a really fine powder that is more consistent) you can even use a Magic Bullet or other processor. 2. Store in an airtight container.
I'm not a huge bread/pasta/pastry eater anymore even when they are Paleo compliant. When I first started eating Paleo I tried out a lot of bread recipes and never really found anything that I just loved. That, plus the fact that I like easy in my normal day-to-day life since it's a little hectic most of the time led me to sticking with mostly meat and veggies 90% of the time... but sometimes you just need a cupcake. So I've been experimenting with Paleo baking again... it's a lot harder than normal baking. I'm actually fairly good at baking with wheat and sugar (my French bread gets rave reviews whenever I make it) but since I don't eat either wheat or processed white sugar now I need to learn a whole new science of how everything reacts (texture, rise, density) and learn how new flavors work with each other under heat. Nut flours, coconut flour, arrowroot powder, tapioca flour, honey, maple syrup, new oils... they just react differently that anything I am used to baking with so it will likely take some time but I like a challenge. I have a great respect for anyone who can rock an awesome wheat and white sugar free baking recipe but I'm not quite there yet. All that being said, I have a few sweet treat recipes that I'll be sharing over the next couple of days. They may not be perfect yet so if you have suggestions please leave a comment... I'm ALWAYS learning and LOVE cooking up a batch of goodies to share with my coworkers or friends. When I made these I used coconut oil as the main baking oil but I realized that I wasn't a huge fan of how they turned out so I have adjusted the recipes to sub some of the coconut oil for butter... real, grass-fed butter... not margarine. I understand that a lot of people who eat a more Paleo diet abstain from butter and other dairy products but I do not. I stick to a high fat, low carb real-food inspired Primal/Paleo/Ancestral style of eating that allows for quality dairy. Just throwing that out there... if you don't do well with dairy then you can go back to coconut oil in equal amounts as the butter and the consistency will still work just fine. INGREDIENTS:
PROCEDURE: 1.Peel and chop your apples. I skinned the apples with a potato peeler and then just quickly diced them up... I did two apples and had about one whole one left so one large apple should be enough (I wanted some apples in a salad for lunch). 2. Juice about half a lemon (again, I was making more in the photo than necessary as I was planning on using it for additional recipes... work smarter and not harder right?). 3. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 4. Mix all dry ingredients other than baking soda in a bowl. 5. Mix all other ingredients except the apples in a second bowl. 6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl slowly while combining. Mix until smooth and well combined. *When I took the photos I added the spices after combining but realized this was unnecessary... so there is slight discrepancy here but it gives you an idea of the consistency. 7. Once combined well mix in the apples. 8. Oil the baking pan you are using. You can use butter, coconut oil, etc. 9. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth top. You can sprinkle some additional apples and cinnamon on top if you would like. 10. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove when the center is firm and allow to cool before cutting.
Sometimes you just need a cupcake. It's a birthday or anniversary and you want to celebrate... or its just been one of those days and something sweet would just be perfect right about now. Cupcakes are pretty awesome I have to admit. A co-worker of mine has a daughter who is diagnosed Celiac so I thought I would try my hand at making her some vanilla cupcakes... without frosting unfortunately as my frosting still needs a lot of work. I started with vanilla because, honestly, I was out of chocolate in the house (wow... well I was craving sugar like crazy in my week off grains so I guess it's no surprise that the chocolate disappeared). This recipe makes a dozen cupcakes. I'll be experimenting with a variation of this recipe to make blueberry muffins in a few weeks once I'm done with the 21-Day Sugar Detox (Diane Sanfilippo).
INGREDIENTS:
PROCEDURE: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Mix coconut flour, sea salt and baking soda in a bowl. 3. In a separate bowl mix the remainder of the ingredients. 4. Mix in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly. 5. Once everything has been fully mixed and the batter is smooth, pour batter into a greased cupcake pan. You can also use liners if you prefer, either paper or silicone. 6. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cupcakes should be firm and golden. 7. Allow to cool for at least one hour before frosting them. Do you guys like the new link verses the amazon buttons? I want everyone to easily find the items I am discussing but I don't want the blog to end up overwhelmed with what look like shopping ads so I think I'll be going with this method unless I hear that the other way is preferred. Hope you all have a wonderful day!
Are you a bit of a cream cheese fan? Me too! While this recipe doesn't actually produce the same cream cheese you would purchase in a little silver container in the dairy aisle it comes pretty close. The cheese produced here is produced overnight and takes very little effort but is closer to a fromage blanc, meaning it is a bit more tangy than what you would be used to picking up on your way home from work... but it is great for spreads and dips! I began making this simple cheese because I wanted the by-product: whey. Whey is very useful for lacto-fermenting condiments... which I do A LOT of. Why ferment foods you ask? Well, as Wellness Mama says, "Homemade salsa only lasts a few days in the fridge- Fermented homemade salsa lasts months! The same goes for sauerkraut, pickles, beets and other garden foods. Lacto-fermentation allows you to store these foods for longer periods of time without losing the nutrients like you would with traditional canning." I couldn't have said it better myself! I got tired of having to remake my condiments each week and started looking into ways to prolong the shelf-life and therefore use my time more wisely. This seemed like an easy way to make that happen as a single container of yogurt produced not only a creamy cheese that my ex-husband enjoyed as an onion dip (and others have used with fruit and jams to be included with breakfast and dessert!) but enough whey to last me the whole month for all of my condiments from dressings to ketchup to salsa and bbq sauce. It freed up a lot of my time but allowed me to eat healthy as well.
So... here's the how-to: INGREDIENTS:
TOOLS:
PROCEDURE: 1. Fold cheesecloth over to make 6-8 layers. NOTE: If you don't have/can't find cheesecloth then use a clean, very thin towel. I don't recommend this method as I have always used the cheesecloth but I have heard that it works just fine. The cloth must be very thin though or it will absorb too much of the whey.
2. Tie one side of the cheesecloth to the hanger and place the hanger on a cabinet handle or ledge.
3. Place a bowl beneath where the cheesecloth will be hanging and drape the, now hanging, cheesecloth in the bowl.
4. Put the yogurt into the cheesecloth.
5. Tie the other side of the cheesecloth to the hanger.
6. Insure that the bowl is directly beneath the hanging cheesecloth.
7. Check back in the morning... you should have cheese in the cloth and whey in the bowl. NOTE: If you do not want to use a hanger you can place the cheesecloth, centered, over the bowl. Then place the yogurt in the cheesecloth. Finally, use 1 rubber band to close the cheesecloth and the other to attach it to the cabinet door.
8. Place the whey in an airtight container and place in the fridge. It will last at least a month so long as you made to sure to strain out all of the yogurt. The whey will be a slightly yellow tinted translucent liquid.
9. Place the cheese in a separate airtight container and place in the fridge. The cheese will last about a week in the fridge.
Curious where I get my ingredients? I get my ingredients all over the metroplex, on Amazon and through Young Living as a distributor. Don't want to search out stores to pick them up? I'll make it easy! You can place an order through me for any oils you may need and here are some quick links for the non-perishable ingredients and tools on Amazon should you wish to order online:
I love ranch dressing... we established that already... but the longer I have been Paleo the less I have used the creamy dressings and other condiments in my day to day life. I still love salad dressings though and a quick vinaigrette is always tasty. This recipe is easily changed to highlight different flavors by exchanging vinegars, oils or herbs but this is a basic Italian inspired version. It isn't completely necessary to use the immersion blender but I really enjoy the slightly emulsified version that results when an immersion blender is used instead of just shaking it up. The longer the dressing sits the stronger the flavors will get. This means that if you don't really like garlic or another spice lessen it at the beginning and don't over-do spices as you experiment with new flavors. INGREDIENTS:
PROCEDURE: 1. Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl. 2. Use immersion/stick blender to combine the ingredients. Mix for about a minute. 3. Pour into airtight containers. *You might have to shake the bottle before using it again to recombine as it can settle.
What kind of vinaigrette dressings do you use in your home? There are some things I miss more than others with this new way of eating... one of those things is a good ranch dressing on a spinach and mixed greens salad. I tried for months to find a recipe I enjoyed but never found one that was exactly what I was looking for. Don't get me wrong, a quick google search of "Paleo Ranch dressing" will net you several good recipes for ranch but I enjoy quite a bit of dill and a nice bit of garlic in my ranch dressings and none quite hit the spot. This one started out as a combination of several of those googled recipes actually but my ex-husband really likes spicy food and I was working to not only feed myself healthy food but find things that he enjoyed eating as well... so this buffalo ranch recipe was born. It was just spicy enough that he didn't care that it was 'healthy' and made his salads a bit more palatable so we were both eating better. Now its just me around the house so I don't make it as often as I used to but I have taken this dressing to pot lucks where no one but myself was eating Paleo and everyone had rave reviews. INGREDIENTS:
PROCEDURE: 1. Arrange your ingredients and tools. I was cooking several things the day I made this recipe and apparently I decided that I should put extra spices in the picture... sorry about that! 2. Mix the mayo and coconut milk together in a bowl. 3. Add the spices and mix well. 4. Slowly add in the Buffalo Sauce. I put this in last so that I can add more to taste as sometimes I am really craving something spicy. In that case I want more buffalo sauce so I taste as I go to make sure to get the perfect blend of what my taste buds are craving. NOTE: If you use canned coconut milk the dressing will turn out slightly sweet compared to the refrigerated kind. For this reason I typically use the refrigerated, unsweetened unflavored coconut milk. Today I was out so I turned to my pantry as I always have a jar or two in my pantry staples. 5. Pour the dressing into jars with airtight seals and refrigerate. If you lacto-ferment it then it will last about 2 weeks in the fridge. If you do not then it tends to last about a week. It is also really easy to scale up or down this recipe depending on how much you wish to make.
What is your favorite Paleo-friendly dressing? |
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