Paleo Truffles

I broke in my new food processor the other night by making some paleo truffles... aka bites of heaven. I took a couple recipes and kinda came up with my own and they were delicious!

1 c. pitted dates
1/3 c. raisins (can use all dates)
1 c. walnuts
1/2 c. shredded unsweetened coconut
4 tbs. cocoa powder
2 tbs. coconut cream concentrate. (if you don't have this, just add 1 tsp. vanilla, and if more liquid is needed to bring it together, use coconut milk)

Blend together until smooth and roll into balls (or eat out of the food processor like I did. haha)

yum!

Peanut butter banana muffins with a twist!

I have been struggling with getting my 2 1/2 year old to eat much of anything. He eats a lot of fruit, but doesn't like any veggies, and he is going through a bit of a picky phase. So I wanted to find something I could make that would encompass most of the food groups and be healthy and tasty for him. So I took a recipe from Deceptively delicious, and tweaked it a bit to my liking. They came out so good that Jack is constantly asking for more!

Peanut butter banana muffins

3 med bananas mashed
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup carrot puree
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup flour (i used white because it's what I had, but you could use whole wheat)
1/2 cup almond flour (optional... if you leave it out, add 1/2 c. more of regular flour)
1/4 cup flaxseed meal (optional)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking owder
1 tsp salt

mix together bananas, peanut butter, carrot, eggs and brown sugar. mix dry ingredients separately then add to wet, stirring until combined.
grease 2 muffin tins or use paper liners and fill 3/4 full.
bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 mins until lightly browned and toothpick inserted comes out clean.

makes 24 muffins

Paleo Carrot coconut banana cake

Carrot Cake Cookie Bars

2 Cups Blanched Almond Flour
1/4 c. granulated sweetener (stevia, xylitol, palm sugar, etc)
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tbs oil or melted butter
1 Tbs Vanilla Extract
1/8 Tsp Sea Salt
1 1/2 Tbs almond milk (or water)
2 Tsp Cinnamon.
2 tbs. date paste (could use honey or maple syrup)
2 eggs
scant 1 Cup Grated Carrots
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
1 banana, mashed (or 1/2c. applesauce would be good too, and it wouldn't taste like banana)
1/2 c. chopped pecans

1/4 c raisins to sprinkle on top (optional)

mix all ingredients and press into greased 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes


I made this today. I started with another recipe and then added some things. They came out pretty good. I was expecting them to be dense and bar like, but it came out more cake like. not too sweet, but if you want it sweeter you can probably add more sweetener. They also aren't overly moist, so you could probably add more mashed banana or applesauce. I will definitely use applesauce next time.

But overall, I would call these a success!

Pumpkin Scones!

I love Fall! And I love Pumpkin. I have a great recipe for pumpkin scones (not typical scones... they are not dry at all!) And they are sooooo good! We used to sell these at our coffee shop (all you old mocha mania customers should enjoy this!) and they would sell out fast.
Anyways, here is the recipe... you have to make these at least once! I promise you will love them! And they are super easy!

Pumpkin Scones

6c. Flour
3c. sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tbs baking soda
1 stick butter
1/2 c. crisco
1 lg. can pumpkin (can sub any type of pie mix/filling, or just do chocolate chips and milk to make a dough, almost the consistency of cookie dough!)

Sift together dry ingredients.
Cut in butter and crisco and mix together
stir in pumpkin or pie filling
place on ungreased cookie sheet or pizza stone
bake at 350 for 25-30 mins. (or less depending on the size)

Indian Chicken Curry Recipe

I made this curry last night, and I thought it was so delicious I had to share! (and easy, and cheaper than buying the premade stuff!)


Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon paprika
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
salt to taste
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup coconut milk

Directions

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove bay leaf.
Optional: add juice from 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and simmer 5 more minutes. (I didn't do this, and I thought it tasted great! The curry powder gave it a little bite, but if you like it spicier, I would definitely add the cayenne)


Let me know if you try it and what you think!

Original recipe source here.

Beef Dip Sandwiches!

These sandwiches are amazing. We had them at bible study a couple months ago, and I fell in love instantly! And they are so easy!

Ingredients:
Beef Roast (I used a chuck roast)
pepperoncinis
Beef stock or bouillon cubes

Place roast in crockpot. Dump pepperoncinis on top (i used a lot of the juice too, which makes it spicier). Add beef stock (however much you desire. If you like more juiciness, add more! I added 1 bouillon cube dissolved in about 1/2c water since I had the juice from the pepperoncinis.)

Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 7-8 hours. Shred meat with forks, pile on sourdough or hoagie rolls, and top with provolone cheese. Enjoy!

Raspberry Jalapeno jam/Sauce!

When I had my pampered chef party, I was able to get a bottle of their raspberry habanero sauce for free and I fell in love! It was so good over cream cheese with some crackers.

So, the other day I was thinking... I have some jalapenos.... why don't I get some raspberries and try making a sauce like theirs. So, I scoured the internet looking for a recipe, and found one or two that were similar to what I wanted, but not quite there. So, I tweaked them a bit and made my own!

My sauce had so many rave reviews at the baby shower I threw Sunday, and I had so many requests for the recipe, that I decided to go ahead and post it! So, here ya go!

Raspberry Jalapeno Jam/sauce
makes approx 2 pints

Ingredients:
2 pints raspberries
4 large jalapenos (mine were quite large)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
3 cups sugar
3 tbs pectin (if you want it to be more like a jam. For a thinner sauce, leave this out)

Directions:
Dice jalapenos, removing the seeds and ribs from half of them. (leave the other half in to make it spicy. If you want a mild sauce, feel free to increase the number of jalapenos you seed.) Don't worry about them being too small, you really are just getting the flavor out of them.
put all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. simmer for 5 minutes then remove from heat.
put into a blender and pulse several times on low to fully break up the raspberries.
put through a strainer to remove seeds and jalapeno pulp. (if you used pectin, you want to do this a little quickly as it starts to gel as it cools)
put in jars and refrigerate! Will keep for at least 6 weeks in the fridge.
Enjoy!

Pumpkin Scones!

I love Fall! And I love Pumpkin. I have a great recipe for pumpkin scones (not typical scones... they are not dry at all!) And they are sooooo good! We used to sell these at our coffee shop (all you old mocha mania customers should enjoy this!) and they would sell out fast.
Anyways, here is the recipe... you have to make these at least once! I promise you will love them! And they are super easy!

Pumpkin Scones

6c. Flour
3c. sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tbs baking soda
1 stick butter
1/2 c. crisco
1 lg. can pumpkin (can sub any type of pie mix/filling, or just do chocolate chips and milk to make a dough, almost the consistency of cookie dough!)

Sift together dry ingredients.
Cut in butter and crisco and mix together
stir in pumpkin or pie filling
place on ungreased cookie sheet or pizza stone
bake at 350 for 25-30 mins. (or less depending on the size)

Enjoy!!!