AMAZING Paleo chocolate cake and raw vegan carmel sauce

I am sort of obsessed with this chocolate cake I made, I found a recipe on Pinterest and adapted it. It's seriously good. If you're craving chocolate this is the way to go!

For the cake:
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate (I used Sunspire 100% cacao bar)
3 large organic eggs (wisked)
1/2 cup palm shortening
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
3/4 cup raw local honey

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Start by melting the palm shortening and the chocolate bar together. You can use a double boiler or do what I did, stick in a microwave safe measuring cup and melt slowing stirring every 15-25 seconds so it doesn't burn. Let the mixture cool then slowing add the other ingredients, mixing until perfectly combined. Take a cake pan grease with coconut oil and line the bottom with parchment paper. Pour in the batter and even with a spatula. Bake approximately 20 minutes. Be sure to cool before eating. This cake is very rich I would recommend small pieces! Top with this raw carmel for a little more decadence.

For the Carmel Sauce: (this sauce is great on anything, especially this cake and on apples) :)
Keep in mind, this is raw, all the ingredients have health benefits; but it's NOT low calorie, so eat sparingly.

1 cup cashew butter or sun butter (unsweetened)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. raw local honey
pink Himalayan sea salt (or regular sea salt) to taste.
2 pitted dates (make sure they are softened, to do this place in a bowl with piping hot water until they are soft to the touch)

Put all ingredients into a high-powered blender and process until smooth. Keep in the fridge to store.

Paleo Pot Roast and Mashed potatoes

One of my favorite things in the world is pot roast and mashed potatoes on a cool rainy fall day. I was so excited when it was raining Saturday so I could make my favorite food! My favorite all-time pot roast recipe is Ina Garten's (barefoot contessa). Her recipe is to die for and I had to make very few changes! I subbed arrowroot powder for anywhere that called for all-purpose flour, I omitted the cognac (because I don't drink and I refused to spend the money to buy a bottle that I won't use), I subbed palm shortening and arrowroot powder for the butter and flour to make the gravy.

Now, for my mashed potato recipe.

Peel and cube about 5 large organic yukon gold potatoes. Place in pot with cold water and a pinch of kosher salt and bring to a boil.  When they are fork tender put into a mixing bowl or stand mixer (I like fluffy, not lumpy mashed potatoes). To the potatoes add minced garlic (to taste), about 1 or 2 tbsp. of good organic extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and homemade cashew cream (about 1/2 cup, or until you reach a creamy consistency). If you don't know how to make cashew cream follow my post from July 5th, only don't add anything except the water, cashews and salt, no one wants sweetened vanilla cream in their potatoes. Using an electric mixer, mix until very fluffy and delicious. Now layer the potatoes, gravy and roast. I have a ton of veggies and juices left so I used about 1/3 for gravy and used my immersion blender to create a soup with the rest for Austin to take to work all week. Best way to stretch a dollar :) Enjoy!

Paleo Chicken Strips

My kids are loving these lately, I have made them twice in less than two weeks. They're easy and they are so good. My friend Kristin sent me a recipe and I changed it a little and it turned out awesome!
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Start by cutting 4 chicken breasts into strips. In a shallow dish whisk two eggs. In a second shallow dish add the dry ingredients.

Cover the chicken in the egg and then completely coat in the dry ingredients. Place the strips on a baking sheet covered in parchment.

Generously drizzle with avocado oil and bake 15-20 minutes then flip and bake another 15-20 minutes. Dip in BBQ, ketchup or a Honey Dijon dipping sauce.

2 eggs
4 chicken breasts
1 cup cashew flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour or arrowroot powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. pepper
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1/2 tbsp. sesame seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

Vegetable Soup

My soups are random, they sort are just whatever I have on hand. This one turned out great!

1 tbsp. Avocado oil
1/2 sweet onion (minced)
2 celery ribs (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
2 huge garlic cloves or 4 small (minced)
10-15 cremini mushrooms (ground in a food processor)
1/2 butternut squash cut into 1/4" cubes
1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
14 oz. water
bunch of basil
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil to finish

Heat a Dutch oven to medium high heat
Add the avocado oil
When the avocado oil is hot add the mirepoix (the celery, carrot and onion) Sautee until soft
Add the garlic, Butternut squash and ground mushroom mix (grinding the mushrooms makes the soup thicker)
Season with Italian spices, salt and pepper
Add the tomatoes and fill the can 1/2 way with water and add to the pot
Stir and simmer (I simmered for 2 hours)
When You're ready to serve add chopped basil and a little fresh extra virgin olive oil.
I dipped an herby variation of my paleo bread in it. My bread recipe with garlic, thyme and rosemary from my garden...

Cheap and easy and super healthy!

My Fall Chia Pudding (3 minute breakfast made the night before)

Since yesterday was the start of September I am ready for all flavors fall. I love chia pudding and I have been wanting to master it especially since my kids also love it and it's the easiest breakfast ever since you make it the night before! I finally found one I am obsessed with and it's deliciously healthy!

Here's what I did: *note all flavors (cinnamon, syrup and vanilla are to taste, I did not measure so it's approximate)

1 can full fat coconut  milk (preferably from a BPA free can like Natural Value brand)
2/3 cup organic chia seeds
1 tbsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. grade B maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla

start by putting the coconut milk, maple syrup cinnamon and vanilla in a bowl, whisk together until combined. Then add the chia seeds and stir well. Cover and refrigerate overnight, it will be perfect to eat in the morning for a filling, protein and healthy fat packed way to start the day!

Paleo Cinnamon Bread

Ok, I decided since it was rainy today that it would be fall preview day at my house. I made a little twist on my amazing paleo bread. It turned out really yummy, I topped it with some Nutiva coconut spread and a little cinnamon sugar sprinkle, not paleo but it was so good! It's great plain too or with a little coconut butter maybe? Would make great french toast as well!

Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a loaf pan like this, spray with coconut oil and line the bottom with parchment, it makes it very easy to pull the loaf out. 

4 eggs

4 egg whites

2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp. coconut oil 

1/4 cup grade b maple syrup

1 cup ground golden flaxseeds

1 cup of arrowroot powder

1/4 cup tapioca starch

2 tbsp. cinnamon

pinch of salt

4 tsp. gluten free baking powder

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix, in a separate bowl add the wet ingredients making sure they are well incorporated. Once they are mixed separately begin adding the wet ingredients into the dry. Pour into the loaf land and cook about 25-30 minutes. 

NOT PALEO brown rice pasta with PALEO marinara (feel free to sub zoodles or spaghetti squash)

This sauce was phenomenal. So fresh and so tasty! It was NOT ideal to have a simmering pot when it was 90 degrees but it sure did taste good after!

1/4 large sweet onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 can of crushed tomatoes
salt
pepper
oregano
1 tbsp. honey
about 1/4 cup chopped basil
EVOO or Avocado Oil

Start the pasta water, make sure it's well salted. When it's ready add the brown rice pasta.

For the Sauce:

Start by Heating a dutch oven or large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the oil (about 1-2 tbsp.) Then put the garlic and onion into the food processor until it's fully pureed. Add the puree to the oil and begin to cook for a few minutes. Next add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and oregano. Drizzle in the honey and stir. Cook for about 45 minutes until sauce becomes slightly thick. Add the basil at the end and stir. Then using a slotted pasta spoon scoop the pasta into the marinara and toss. Top with fresh basil.

Radiantly You Product Review

So about a year and a half ago my sister-in-law introduced me to a small company called Radiantly You. I was instantly obsessed with their sunscreen. Not only did it work and smell good. it absorbed easily (not a ton of rubbing in the white zinc) and it was made with totally pure natural ingredients. This year Evelyn became a rep for the company and sent me a few new products of theirs. Same situation this time, great products, totally safe and worked great! I got to try the lavender vanilla scrub, which I loved the ingredients are: Cane Sugar, Pomace (Olive Oil), Glycerin and Essential Oils of Lavender* and Vanilla* (asterisk denotes organic ingredient) 

The Scrub worked great and smelled amazing! 

The other product I tried was the Dead Sea Face Wash. Now, I had a bit of a hard time with this (I got a couple zits at first, but my brother-in-law and my husband both loved it). I do have very sensitive skin and usually changing any product causes me a reaction, so I don't go by my reaction. The texture of this wash is awesome and the ingredient list is amazing. They are: Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil*, Sustainably Harvested Palm Oil*, Olive Oil (Pomace), Rice Bran Oil, Aqua, Sodium Hydroxide, Dead Sea Mud, Tea Tree Essential Oil, Tocopheryl (Vitamin E)

Lastly, I tried the All-natural Counter Spray Concentrate. This stuff was wonderful especially on wood since it has orange oil in it. This was the concentrate so I recycled an old spray bottle and added the appropriate amount of water. It smelled citrusy and delicious and did a great job on both my wood surfaces and my synthetic countertops. The ingredient list for this is so pure you can't help but try it! Ingredients: Aqua, Sodium Carbonate, RY Castile Soap, Sweet Orange Essential Oil* - For those who don't know, this is Water, Baking Soda, Castile Soap, and Orange Essential Oil. SO SIMPLE. 

I hope you will give some of these products a try, especially that amazing sunscreen (and especially if you have kiddos!) I have heard great things about the toothpaste and many other products as well! 

If You're interested in any of these products you can order them here: 

www.radiantlyyou.com/cleanlife

or you can email at 

cleanlife@mail.com

or call Evelyn at 206.653.4067

Cashew Cream, My Current Obsession.

This has become something I literally keep in the fridge now, I have a major sweet tooth and this will satisfy it 80% of the time (the other 20% require chocolate, obviously). This is super easy to make, not loaded in calories and is super healthy and even more tasty. I have made an unsweetened version and used it in place of heavy cream in savory recipes and it works perfectly, I will blog some of those this fall when I am craving hearty dishes like that. But this is sweet and amazing especially over berries or any fruit.

Start by putting raw unsalted cashews in a bowl and cover completely with water let soak 6-10 hours in a cool place counters are fine, but not in the hot summer, so try the fridge. When they are done soaking, drain the water and put the cashews in a high powered blender, like a Vitamix with about 1/4 cup of water for each cup of cashews. To sweeten add about 1 Tbsp. of grade B maple syrup per cup of cashews and 1/2 Tbsp. of Gluten Free vanilla extract. Turn blender on and leave for about 2 minutes. Take out and store in a container in the fridge and use as you want, a little goes a long way and will totally become a staple when you want a cold healthy summer treat! 

Paleo Bison Lettuce Wrap Tacos

My husband LOVES bison meat, and I officially love it now too. It's very lean and has so much protein! The other night my mother-in-law and I were talking about what to do for dinner and we kept throwing ideas out there and came up with this super yummy, super healthy dinner.

1 pack of ground Bison (Buffalo) meat
2 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. paprika
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. garlic powder
pinch of salt and pepper

homemade guacamole or avocado
1 head of iceberg, romaine or butter lettuce

1-2 sweet potatoes, any variety
1/2 sweet onion

olive oil

To make the bison:

Brown the bison meat in a hot skillet (add a little avocado oil if necessary). Once it's browned add about 1 cup of water and the seasonings (all to taste, my amounts are rough since I don't measure). Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer stirring occasionally until the water is evaporated then remove meat.

To make the sweet potato topping:
Turn the oven to 450 degrees. Peel and dice your sweet potato and onion into about 1/2" chunks and toss with a little avocado oil, about 2 tsp. of cumin and a pinch of salt. Spread out flat on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden like the picture, I used Hannah sweet potatoes here, they are a white variety.

Once everything is done put on a clean piece of lettuce and top with guacamole or avocado and eat. It will probably fall apart but who cares!

The Coconutty.

This is by far my favorite smoothie, it's more like dessert and would probably be fantastic with some protein powder post-workout. It's also a bit of a pain due to trying to open the thai coconut (which I make my husband do, because I literally cannot do it). This is a complete copycat recipe of my favorite smoothie from Thrive in Seattle. Seeing that I have to pay the toll, pay to park and then pay $12 for the smoothie and the bridge is closed 50% of the time these days anyway, I needed to figure out a way to make it myself; and I did. Here it is.

1 Thai coconut hacked (PCC and Whole Foods have them, they're $1 cheaper at PCC, so I get mine there) Use all the coconut water and all the meat, scoop out with a spoon.
1 pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt
1/2 cup Cashews
4-5 pitted and softened metajool dates (I soak mine in boiling water for a few minutes)
5 or so ice cubes

Throw all into the Vitamix and blend until creamy. You could add raw cacao, I've added spinach, almond butter or cinnamon would be good; there are lots of ways you could spice this up but I like mine plain Jane.

Orange and Green Smoothie.

So it really looks green but there's more in there. This was what I drank for breakfast today and it made enough for tomorrow as well. Shaana, this is for you! :)

1 small gala apple

2-4 cups of kale and spinach

1 cup parsley

about 1/2 inch of ginger

2 carrots peeled 

1/2 cup frozen mango

Juice from one lime

water 

Thrown into the Vitamix. Done. 

The BEST PALEO BREAD EVER!

This is hands down the best paleo bread I've ever made, I found a recipe and tweaked it until I got it right! Here's the recipe!! Here's the original site: http://www.paleoeffect.com/recipes/fluffy-paleo-bread-paleo-effect/

Preheat Oven to 350.

Dry Ingredients:
1 Cup Flaxseed Meal or buy whole golden flaxseeds and grind in your Vitamix.
1 1/2 Cup Arrowroot Powder
4 tsp. Gluten Free Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Salt

Wet Ingredients:
4 Large Eggs
4 Egg Whites
4 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. For the wet ingredients start with the eggs and whisk well, then add the rest of the wet ingredients, next slowly incorporate the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and put the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes until just barely golden (see picture). I dipped in Extra Virgin Olive Oil with minced rosemary and sea salt. So yum.

Almond and Raw Cacao Green Protein Smoothie (with mint or vanilla)

I like to drink this smoothie after a workout, it's got protein from the almonds and is packed with nutrients, it's also really really filling!

Into the Vitamix add:

2 tspb. of smooth almond butter
a little less than 1 tbsp. of organic raw cacao
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
3-4 cups of mixed greens (spinach, kale, chard, collards etc)
1 tspb. honey
optional 1 tsp. of peppermint extract or 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup of ice

Blend. So so good you guys!

The Vegetable Garden Smoothie

I love this smoothie, I hate beets and I think the lemon in this smoothie almost completely masks the beet flavor, I also add about 1 tbsp. of ground organic golden flax and shake in my blender bottle right before I drink it, if you do it in the Vitamix it becomes too thick and clumpy. I do however but full flax seeds and grind them in my Vitamix and then store them in a plastic bag in the fridge.  I really love this smoothie, it tastes so clean and fresh and healthy but it's still super delicious. I didn't add any greens to this one simply because I already make so many green smoothies and it IS possible to over do greens, so I am trying to make smoothies that are packed with vitamins but that don't always involve spinach, kale, collards and chard.

What goes into this smoothie:

1/2 beet peeled
2 carrots peeled
1/2 cucumber with skin (cleaned)
Juice of one whole lemon
1/2 apple
coconut water

Harvest Smoothie

I've been getting a lot of questions about what smoothies I make so I am going to start trying to blog them. This is the one I made today, it's a "harvest" smoothie but it's delicious all year!

Using your Vitamix or Blendetec put in
1/2 a sweet potato (chopped into large cubes)
2 peeled and rough chopped carrots
1/2 an apple
cinnamon to taste
fresh peeled ginger to taste (I peel and chop mine and put in a bag in the freezer so I can grab what I need, I don't want to peel ginger every day)
enough water to blend easily

Blend.
That's all. Don't you love smoothies, so easy, so healthy!

The BEST marinara sauce.

So I made this sauce two nights ago for the spaghetti I made, I had quite a bit extra and it was so good I wanted to try it on pizza, so I made this paleo pizza crust, it was great, and incredibly easy:
http://paleospirit.com/2014/paleo-pizza-crust-recipe/ . Then added my sauce and topped with mushrooms, red bell pepper, grilled chicken breast and basil (and cheese for the kids).  This sauce is amazing and so versatile, I should also add that the kids had meatball subs last night with it, they might be getting sick of Italian, or maybe not ;). This sauce is great, and I am sure would freeze great as well!

1 sweet onion small dice.
1/4  cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes (preferably organic in a BPA free can)
5 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp. dried Italian spices
1 cup parsley (stems ok)
Sea Salt
Fresh Black Pepper (both to taste)
3/4 cup white wine
Basil

Heat a skillet to medium high and add the onion, sautee until soft and translucent
Add the rest of the ingredients except the wine to a high powered blender or food processor and puree. When the onions are done add the wine wine and allow to cook down a few minutes then add the pureed sauce and simmer for at least 40 minutes. At the end mince your basil and add cooking another 3 minutes or so.

That's it! I hope you'll like this sauce and find a million other uses for it (You could also brown some ground beef prior to the oil and onions and then set aside and add in later for a yummy meat sauce if you don't want to use it as marinara sauce. This would also be delicious for just dipping some paleo bread into!

Homemade Paleo Meatballs and Pasta

Usually being able to eat certain things doesn't bother me, if you would ask me the only things I really miss are doughnuts and pizza, since I can't have the cheese. The other day though I was craving pasta, good homemade pasta. I decided I would find a recipe, I did, it was incredible then I made my homemade marinara (recipe to follow) and made up a recipe for paleo meatballs. It turned out incredible, it was one of the best pasta dishes I have ever eaten, and I've made my own glutenous pasta and been to Italy. It was a process but worth it. I will say the noodles were ugly I couldn't get them through the past press without them breaking so I made them into strips, they'd be great for lasagna! Here's the link to the pasta:

http://www.paleocupboard.com/paleo-pasta.html 

Make sure you cook the pasta in salted water for 2-3 minutes

For the meatballs: 

Parsley diced small (about a cup) 

Organic Grass Fed ground beef (about 1lb.) 

1 Organic egg wisked
1 tbsp. of dried Italian spice blend (not a spice packet, we don't want any added salt or chemicals) 

about 1/4 cup almond flour finely ground

4-5 cloves minced garlic (I like mine really garlicy, adjust to taste) 

salt 

pepper

1/2 sweet onion finely diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Put everything in a bowl and mix by hand form into balls about 1" 

Heat a skillet on medium high with about 1 tbsp. avocado oil in it, slowly add the meatballs and brown on each side, no need to cook all the way through. 

Put the entire pan in the oven (make sure your skillet is oven-safe) for about 10 minutes.  

Spoon Marina over fresh noodles and add the meatballs!

Grain free, refined sugar free blueberry muffins

Well, I just ate 4 of these, this is why I shouldn't be baking, I have no self control with sweets or baked items, at least these are 'healthy'. Not calorie-wise, but they are nutrient dense…that's what I keep telling myself, oh and I got my butt kicked at Bassline Fitness today, so there's that excuse too ;) Make these and try not to eat them all, ok. go. 

1 cup frozen organic blueberries 

1 cup almond flour 

3 tbsp. coconut flour 

3 eggs wisked

1/4 cup melted (but not hot) coconut oil 

3 tbsp raw local honey

1-2 tsp of cinnamon 

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt 

1 tsp. vanilla 

1. Preheat oven to 350 

2. Combine flours, salt, cinnamon, baking soda 

3. Add the eggs, oil, honey and vanilla

4. Fold in blueberries 

5. Line a muffin tin

6. Using an ice cream scoop evenly scoop 12 muffins

7. Bake for approx. 20 minutes 

Paleo Shortcakes

So again, using those biscuits I made shortcakes, I warmed a biscuit and sliced organic strawberries and added some coconut whip cream. I think I have blogged this before but I am going to put the recipe below.

Take one can of full fat coconut milk refrigerate over night, do NOT shake!
Scoop out the solid coconut off the top into a chilled bowl (I froze my Kitchen Aid bowl and wisk for 30 minutes) add about 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract and for the shortcakes I used (about 1 1/2 tsp. Grade B maple syrup, when I go to parties use a little powdered sugar) but I try to limit the sugar. Whip until fluffy about 2 minutes and eat! Such a yummy treat!

Paleo (almost) Sloppy Joes

These I totally made up and they were so yummy, I used the biscuits below but it's good just with a spoon too! Also the reason they are only ALMOST paleo is because I used gluten free worcestershire sauce which had cane juice in it so there is some sugar. but it's super minimal so don't even worry. I used "the Wizards" worcestershire sauce that I found at Whole Foods :) 

1 lb. Organic Grass Fed Ground Beef 

1 Red Bell Pepper (orange or yellow would work but red is best) 

1 Yellow Onion

pinch of salt

1 Tbsp. Grade B Maple syrup

1 Tbsp. or so of Gluten Free Worcestershire sauce

1/4 Red Wine Vinegar

2 Cloves Garlic

2 tsp. Paprika

2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 can Organic Tomato Sauce

1/4 Cup Tomato Paste

1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Heat the olive oil in a sautee pan and add the mined red pepper, garlic and onion and sautee until soft. When they are starting to soften add the ground beef and brown it. Add the vinegar, worcestershire and maple syrup stir and bring to a boil cook off some of the liquid and add the paprika, garlic powder and tomato paste, stir again and add the can of tomato sauce. Simmer on the stove 30-40 minutes and serve with or without a biscuit, my kids each ate two sloppy joes with a biscuit and LOVED it, messy faces and all! 

Double Duty Biscuits

I made this great Paleo biscuits last night and used them for both dinner and dessert today, they are adapted from a Paleomg recipe and they were awesome the kids adored them!

1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
2 whole eggs
2 Tbsp. Coconut oil
Preheat the oven to 350

In a bowl combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
In another bowl (I used my kitchen aid with the wisk attachment) whip the egg whites until fluffy.
Fold the egg whites into the dry ingredients until fully combined. Once combined add the two eggs and coconut oil. If you want a sweeter biscuit you could add about a tablespoon of honey. mix until you have a nice batter. Take a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter evenly, they will spread slightly. Bake for 15 minutes or so.