A Refreshing Summer Breakfast :)

This is the perfect breakfast for a sunny day in my favorite dress! I first chopped up a banana, topped it with a few scoops of chocolate chia pudding (from the Minimalist Baker), a few spoonfuls of balkan natural yogurt, and sprinkled on some coconut, maple syrup, cinnamon and pecans! Its tasty, refreshing and the chia makes it great for hydrating yourself right from the get go!Yum!

Paleo Choco-Cocoa-Coconut Cookies!

This cookie is a double chocolate cookie with the added goodness of shredded coconut! I have discovered that shredded coconut is waaaaay cheaper then coconut flour! Also, as you will see in this post, some coconut flour contains hexane....gross! Also, if you just add shredded coconut, rather then coconut flour, you can save the extra step of having to add coconut oil! (am I the only one who thinks its silly make a recipe with both coconut flour and coconut oil, when you could just add shredded coconut instead?) Plus I added in some dates, bananas and molasses for sweetness! Its like a dark chocolate brownie cookie!

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
10 dates, pits removed
4 tb cocoa powder
2 tb arrowroot powder
1 un-sweetened baking square, chopped into little chunks
1 banana, mashed
3 free-range eggs, beaten
1 tb unsulphured organic molasses
1 tb brandy


Put the coconut and dates in your blender or food processer and blend untill the coconut is dessicated and the dates are chopped up in tiny bits.

Mix the cocoa power and arrowroot poweder into the coconut/date mixture. Add the banana, eggs, molasses, chocolate bits and brandy and mix until well incorporated.

I made each of my cookies with a rounded tablespoon full and it worked out that I got excatly 1 dozen!

Bake at 375 F on convection for 15 minutes.
Or bake them a bit longer if your oven doesn't have the convection option.

Ta da! Enjoy!

Primal Pot Pie!

Yum! This is quite the breakfast dish! With a stellar combination of textures, flavors and layers this is sure to be a winner at the breakfast table! With several different vegetables and protein to top it all off! Ha ha! Literally, because the eggs are on top! ;)

 

 

 

Now let's make it happen!:

 

• Chop up 1/4 of an onion
• Then cut 3 rounds that are 4 inches in diameter of rutabaga into 1/4" slices and then cut into strips.
• Fry the onions at medium high heat in some bacon fat or butter until they are translucent then add the rutabaga into the frying pan and cook until they are tender and turn golden.
• Put the rutabaga mixture into a bowl or small casserole dish and cover with a layer of spinach. Use a plate as a lid on the bowl to keep in the heat while the eggs cook.
• In the same hot pan crack two eggs into the pan sprinkle with grated cheese, put on the lid and turn the heat on very low. They should cook in a few minutes to a perfect stage, where the egg is still runny when punctured. (This makes a yummy sauce!).
• Now put your eggs on the bed of spinach and top with some fresh chopped papaya seeds (or fresh ground pepper). Yum!

 

Ta da! You did it! I topped mine with some yogurt and a few pumpkin seeds as well while I was eating it!

Zesty Tropical Twister Smoothie

Wow! I can honestly say that this smoothie surprised even me! It's the perfect blend of zesty, sweet and spicy! All these fantastic flavors get perfectly tied together with delicious creamy notes from the papaya, banana and almonds. This may just be my new favorite smoothie! How can you resist this delicious smoothie with the all its additional digestive health benefits of papaya seeds (see more info here) and orange peels (more info here)?

THE RECIPE:

Use your high powered blender of choice and blend together:

1 small handful of almonds

1/2 water
4 ice cubes

Now add in:
1/2 a banana
1/2 an orange (leave that nutritious peel on for some fabulous zesty flavor!)
1/4 of a lime
3 frozen strawberries
1/5 of a large papaya

And now for the spicy finish *drum roll please*
Add in 1 tsp papaya seeds!!!

Blend it a up and enjoy! I know I sure did! ;D

Zucchini Pancakes!

Amazing! Why have I not made these before? They stay together well and the zucchini adds much needed moisture to the often dry coconut flour. With only 4 ingredients this recipe is a breeze! Just top with some cheese, butter or yogurt and you are good to go! :)

Zucchini Pancakes

1 cup grated zucchini
Tossed in:
1/2 cup coconut flour + 1/8 tsp baking soda
Beat 5 eggs and 1/2 cup water together then pour into the zucchini mixture and mix well.

Now just fry them in a tsp of coconut oil in a frying pan and enjoy! It is just that simple! :D

Paleo Chocolate Fudge Recipe! Yum!

Paleo Chocolate Fudge Recipe! Yum!

Recipe:

• 2 TB Thoroughly Melted Creamed Coconut (the kind that comes solidified in a box) 7 TB Melted Coconut Oil 
• 8 TB Pure Coco Powder
• 2 TB Cinnamon (or just add more Coco if you don't want cinnamon chips)
• 2 TSP Organic Vanilla (I make homemade extract by putting two vanilla beans in a bottle and filling with vodka)
• 5 Medjool Dates
• 2 TB Arrowroot Starch

Method: Put all the ingredients into a Vitamix (or other high powered blender) and blend until smooth! Line a pan with waxed paper and distribute the mixture all over the surface, then place another sheet of waxed paper on top and then use a rolling pin to even it all out. Or you can roll it into balls and dust with coco powder for delectable bon bons! Let it chill in the freezer and enjoy!

An Even Greener Smoothie!

I have been on the lookout for fruit free smoothies on my quest to naturally resolve my digestive issues and I found one! Check this one out! And it tastes good. No, its not sweet, but it does have a creamy pleasant taste and I had no issues swallowing the whole glass! So many green smoothie attempts have ended in me gagging  since I have a very strong gag reflex, which doesn't help when I am trying so hard to be healthful! But the journey to a healthier way of eating, is all about finding healthy and TASTY ways to build a healthful diet that you can sustain and this recipe accomplishes both! There is a big difference between being "on a diet" and "eating a diet". When a person goes "on a diet" it is always short lived and usually treated like a punishment. What makes a life long difference is to just eat a healthy diet, all the time!   

Ingredients

Fruit Free Green Smoothie

Altered from the recipe found: here

• ½ organic cucumber, chopped
• ¼ cup parsley
• ¼ lemon, peeled
• 1 tsp Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
• ½ avocado, pitted and peeled
• 1 romaine heart
• ½  cup coconut water (or water)
• 3 ice cubes

 

I just discovered this website where you can type in your recipe and voila! Out comes the nutrition information! When eating Paleo, food doesn't often come with nutrition labels, so its hard to know exactly what the difference is between pure natural whole foods and other commercially packaged foods! But WOW! Take a look at this baby! What a whopper of a nutrition label! (I had to add the extended version too because I was so excited!)

And apparently romaine lettuce is a source of protein, who knew? Check out the low down on romaine and learn 10 Surprising Nutrition Facts About Romaine Lettuce!

THE REAL LOWDOWN ON

the

Fruit Free Green Smoothie 

Liquid Salad! (aka. Lemon Ginger Green Smoothie)

The Great Green Smoothie of Deliciousness! 

Look at that amazing smoothie! Even the picture makes my mouth water (good thing I am sipping on said smoothie at the moment!) This smoothie is so easy to make, it doesn't use a ton of fruit so its lower on the glycemic index and it tastes AMAZING! Yay! I was very skeptical of how liquid salad could taste good....believe me when I say, its delicious! The lemon, ginger and coconut oil are sort of like the salad dressing! The coconut oil and almonds help lend some creaminess to the whole thing (you could also use almond or coconut milk in place of the water) and honestly, I hardly eat a salad without apple in it, so obviously that had to go in! ...I still can't rationalize why the banana works with the whole salad-in-a-smoothie flavor concept I had going there...ah well! It works with all the flavors, so who needs to question it?


Lemon Ginger Salad-in-a-Smoothie
Recipe:
1 Romaine Heart
1/2 cup Water
1 Banana
1/2 Apple
1 TB Coconut Oil
1/8 cup Almonds
1/2 of a Lemon (with the peel cut off)
3/4" cube of Fresh Ginger (I left the peel on)


Method:
First blend up the romaine heart with the water in your high powered blender (like a Vitamix), then add in everything else and blend till smooth! Pour all that goodness into a glass and sip it down while subscribing to my blog! ;) Ha ha! Just kidding, but not about the part of sipping all that goodness down!

I hope you enjoy!
-JJ