Paleo Chocolate Cherry Cookies

I made these cookies for my great grandmothers birthday party a while back. She turned 94! That seems like a pretty amazing feat these days. Since it was a birthday party, that means cake and ice cream, among other tasty temptaions. Several of my family members eat low carb if not primal so I decided to test these cookies on them as a cake alternative. They are chewy and chocolaty and just sweet enough without being overwhelming.

(Pictures coming soon)

Paleo Chocolate Cherry Cookies

12 Medjool dates
1 ½ c almond flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt
2 tbsp applesauce
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t almond extract
¾ c dried bing cherries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Soak dates in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes or until soft.
In a medium bowl combine the almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt.
Drain dates and place in the bowl of a food processor with the applesauce, coconut oil, and extracts. Process until it forms a paste. Add dry ingredients and process until well-blended. Move the mixture back to the bowl you had the dry ingredients in and stir in cherries.
Use a cookie scoop or oiled hands to roll tablespoonfuls of the dough into a ball and place on the baking sheet. Flatten with the palm of your hand.
Bake 10 minutes then cool on a wire rack.

Adapted from this recipe

Everything but the kitchen sink

This recipe is great for those nights when you need to clean out the fridge or you have some odds and ends veggies that are about to turn and no idea what to do with them. I had some veggies I needed to get rid of some things, so into the pan with some ground beef they went.
This is also slightly reminiscent of the beef stew over rice that we used to have when I was a kid. Not reminiscent in taste but in the idea and the memory of it.

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2-3 medium carrots, diced
• 1 bunch of celery, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8 oz of mushrooms, diced
• 2 tbsp coconut aminos or worchestershire
• 1-2 tbsp coconut oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cauliflower rice (instructions at the bottom)
• Pats of butter (optional)

Start by heating your pan over medium heat, once heated through melt coconut oil. I recommend using the whole 2 tbsp since the mushroom will suck a lot of the oil up. They will shrink down as they cook releasing tasty juices but its best to have extra oil in the pan so nothing sticks. When the oil is melted add all of the veggies to the pan, except the garlic, and salt and pepper to your liking. When the onions get to the near translucent phase (a little white in the middle still) add in the garlic. Once the onions are translucent add in the beef and coconut aminos and cook until the beef is no longer pink.

I serve this over cauliflower rice with a couple of pats of Kerrygold butter (the butter goes on the rice then the beef mixture goes over that).

Cauliflower Rice
Take one head of cauliflower and grate with either a box grater or a food processor with a grater attachment. I have a microwave steamer so I add the rice to that and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes. That is cauliflower rice. Seriously, its that easy. Now I'm not going to lie to you and say its just like regular rice, but it is a good substitute and now you don't need to serve a veggie on the side.

Individual Peach Cobblers

I'm not really a fan of peaches; however it is amazing what you can learn to appreciate when doing a Whole 30. I originally intended to just roast these peaches and let them stand on their own but then I was reminded of a peach cobbler that I made last month and inspiration hit. These have no sweetener and since you are roasting the peaches they don't have to be particularly ripe. For those of you, like me, who have terrible luck picking good peach, this is helpful.

Also I realize that these peaches are probably pushing the Whole 30 boundaries pretty hard, so keep your goals in mind when considering this recipe.

Individual Peach Cobblers

3 peaches, halved and pitted
2 cups almond flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line an 8x8 Pyrex with foil. Add the vanilla to the melted butter and stir to combine. Mix in the remaining ingredients and stir until everything comes together and gets crumbly.

Put your peach halves into the pan cut side up. fill the peaches with the almond flour mixture and press it down so it stays on the peach. Cover the pan with foil and place in the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes covered and then remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes so you don't melt the roof of your mouth, then enjoy.

Whole 30 Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes

Don't you just love vacations? All the relaxing by the pool, good food, no gym or email or meeting. Yes, vacations are lovely, until you have to come home from them.

We just returned from Disney World. It was silly, hot, exhausting fun. We ate corn-dogs, ice cream and bread among other non-primal things. It was fun to let loose for a week. I also knew that Monday would probably be pretty rough since we decided to start a Whole 30 to restart our primal systems and we would be heading back to Crossfit after being gone for a week and a half.

Well Monday did not disappoint, let me tell you. After a seriously disappointing gym session (disappointment in my performance not the workout) and some carb flu symptoms, I really wanted something sweet. I realize that the point of a Whole 30 is to minimize carbs, which is why I kept my individual serving small. Just a few bites and then the rest went into the fridge for later.

Whole 30 Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes

-2 sweet potatoes, cubed (I used garnet yams but use any sweet potato you have available)

-2 to 3 tbsp melted coconut oil

-1 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with foil. Put the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet and drizzle with coconut oil. Toss the potatoes with your hands to coat them with the oil. Sprinkle the oiled potatoes with cinnamon and toss again. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, then enjoy.

These could probably be baked at 400 degrees for less time but I put them in before I started dinner so that they would be ready at the same time everything else was.

Almond Chocolate Chip Microwave Mini Cakes

You know those days when you you want to eat an entire batch of cupcakes but you still have the willpower to know that would be a bad idea. Well this is recipe is for you, its a bigger than a cupcake and can even make 2 if you want to share. There are a lot of different flavor combos that would could try but my favorite is the Almond Chocolate Chip Mini Cake.

 

Almond Chocolate Chip Microwave Mini Cakes

Ingredients:
2/3 cup almond flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1-2 tbsp water
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips


Add everything but the chocolate chips to a bowl and stir to combine, then fold in the chocolate chips. Grease 1-2 ramekins, depending on how generous you are feeling, with coconut oil and add your batter. Cook in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds.Test for doneness (its a word I swear) with a toothpick.

You can either eat it directly from the ramekin or turn it out on a plate, but be careful, the ramekin will be hot.