Chicken Pot Pie (Paleo)

What?!  A Recipe?!  Kate gave up writing recipes, didn't she?  Well, I did.  But sometimes, you just stumble upon something so perfect and a recipe just appears.  Those times, it would simply be selfish not to share.  This time, it was pot pie.  I've been making pot pie fairly often since going paleo and I nailed the filling from the start.  It's perfectly creamy magic.  But, I've struggled finding the perfect paleo crust.

Another Week, Another Plan

I survived a week, y'all!  Actually, week 1 of my new meal planning went surprisingly well.  My fridge was full to bursting at the beginning, but by the end, I just had a few sets of leftovers that I've actually worked into this week's plan.  The prepped lunches and breakfasts made each morning move very smoothly.  Sometimes I was extra lazy at home and then packed up my breakfast to lug to the office too.

Dinner wasn't a perfect system.  I came home, we went for a swim, took a shower, then started prep and I pulled off some tasty meals.  But I still found myself wanting to plop on the couch after dinner rather than clean up the fresh mess I had made.  That part is simply going to come down to sheer willpower... and sometimes, I will be going to bed with a messy kitchen.  But hey, that's life. 

Motivational Hole and Meal Planning

I have a lot of passion for food.  Food is the main thing I am thinking about at all times.  Even when I am not hungry, I'm often daydreaming about what I will make and/or eat later when I am inevitably hungry again.  That passion, plus a love of cooking that developed when I began my whole foods lifestyle over two years ago, led me to begin this blog.

But unfortunately, I have discovered that the passion alone is not enough.  While I love to eat and often to cook, it is somewhat rare that I "create" or invent awesome new things to share.  So, once again, I've hit a long dry spell and abandoned this page. I really try not to look down on myself for my "failure" or for "giving up", but sometimes those feelings sneak in, that I will never be a real food blogger like some of the people I idolize and follow regularly, simply because I am too lazy and don't have enough willpower to put the work into creating.  

We all find ways to make ourselves feel small.  It's amazing the damage we can do to ourselves just by looking at our own lives versus another's.  But hey, its a work in progress.  I'm a work in progress. And that's ok.  You know what I'm gonna do?  Keep blogging.  

It feels awesome to think that someone is reading this and appreciating my words, and maybe even feeling inspired or enjoying the recipes I created.  But even if not one person glances at this, I need to write.  Even if I don't have a recipe to share, I still have words and experiences that could help someone.  And myself.  

So today, I'm going to tell you a little about what I HAVE been up to, rather than moping about what I HAVEN'T. The boy is in flight school for the army, which is why I am currently living in Alabama, and he started up classes again this week after a couple months' break.  During his break, I leaned on him a LOT for cooking and cleaning, because he had the time and I didn't have the energy or motivation (there's that word again).  His time has disintegrated to almost nothing as of today and I knew I needed to step up.  Last go around, I did ok, cooking dinners and trying to leave leftovers for lunches.  But, I felt disorganized and tired and, too often, there were either no leftovers, or Phil didn't want them, so he'd go for fast food and I'd scrounge for whatever.  So this was a slow death of a system.  

THIS TIME, I went in prepared.  I decided it was time to take on the time honored tradition of meal planning and prep. Dun dun dun.  I reached out to my awesome friends on TwoGrand (a social media food photo journaling app that is great for bonding with fellow health nuts and enjoying some good old food porn) for some suggestions on delicious prep food and went to work. This was my week one plan:

It went through a few modifications, but the idea was this: on Sunday, I'll prep a large, low carb, easy breakfast for me for the week (the boy doesn't eat breakfast and I've given up there), two lunches so we can alternate meals to reduce boredom and, each day, I'll cook dinner.  Everything is loosely or almost Whole30 friendly, because if I have good food ready to go, I'm less likely to cave to my cravings for naughty things, like the Urban Poser Dutch Baby I really wanted to make on Sunday (and frankly might make this weekend, if I'm still craving it).  Fridays are my cooking "day off" so the boy can get fast food for lunch and we'll probably go out for dinner.  Sundays will be a busy, big food prep day and then I only have to worry about making dinner, which makes life much less exhausting, when I'm not trying to make breakfast and lunch in the morning, plus dinner at night (BONUS: so much less dishes after dinner when there is nothing in the sink from the morning). 

So, yesterday was my first big food prep day.  I'm pretty damn proud of what I accomplished.  I made a batch of Mel Joulwan's Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup (which was ten times more amazing than I expected, I only wanted to use up old zucchini), and a large frittata made with a pound of homemade pork sausage (I like Gutsy By Nature's breakfast sausage), meatball marinara, 2 roasted spaghetti squash, mayo and lemonade.  Plus, I set Monday's tandoori chicken to marinating.  I didn't have to prep two lunches this time because we took a few things out of the freezer (it was too full, oops).  Still, busy day.

Suggestions to make everything easier:

Get soups and sauces that need to cook a while to bubbling ASAP, then ignore them.  

Find a baking temperature that works for all the things you are prepping.  My frittata and squash both baked at 375, so I threw them all in together.

Fridge Tetris

For marinara, it's much faster to start with a sauce you already like and add to it.  I used my favorite Classico tomato basil (DOES have sugar, so not ok for Whole30) and threw in plain tomato sauce and spices till it was doubled in quantity and extra delicious.

So what did I do?  First, I browned up my pork sausage, while sautéing the onions and chopping zucchini for soup.   Then I poured the sausage into the casserole pan to cool and started browning my meatballs (NOT very efficient, but I love pan cooked meatballs).  I got the zuke soup simmering and threw my sauce ingredients together to warm.  As I finished each batch of balls (three pounds of meatballs take a while), I threw them into the simmering sauce to finish cooking.  I topped my pork sausage with spinach and eggs and sent it into the fire, then split open and added the spaghetti squash to the oven also.  During any down time, I washed dishes.  SO MANY DISHES.

Once things finished, I started taking them out and trying to figure out how to tetris everything into my very full fridge.  This was the hardest part, but I think I did pretty darned good!

The last steps, when everything else was done, was mayo, lemonade and tandoori marinade, then I still had some serious evening chill time.  Not a bad day, huh?

Here's a tease of what I ate today:

"Tandoori" chicken with The Domestic Man's Aloo Gobi Matar

Cinnamon Carrot Soup (Paleo + AIP + Low-FODMAP + Whole30)

I eat a lot of carrots. It helps that I can get a 5lb organic bag at the store for 6 bucks. Plus, now that I am trying out being strict low-FODMAP AND low carb, my list of veggies has shrunk significantly. Carrots are a good compromise. They feel like a starchy vegetable, and are very versatile, as you may have noticed if you came to me from Instagram or TwoGrand and see carrots on my plate in some fashion many days. So, it makes sense that it was the ingredient I turned to when I was craving comfort food that met my current restrictions.

Don't forget your floor cleaner!

Browsing through some of my cookbooks, which I often do when needing inspiration (or gratuitous food porn), I saw a lot of soups made from starchy orange veggies. See where I'm going with this? 

Tada, carrot soup! I threw this together on a whim one night, knowing that cinnamon and carrots were a winning flavor combination.  Fortunately, with just a few, simple ingredients, it was easy to reproduce.  Cinnamon makes this soup extra warming and comforting, but so many flavors work with the sweetness of carrot. Try it with ginger or curry for something a little different. 

Cinnamon Carrot Soup (Paleo + AIP + Low-FODMAP + Whole30)

4 cups chopped carrots (or about 10 small-medium carrots... remember guys, I never deal in absolutes, so don't worry about this too much)
4 cups bone broth (I used beef, so if that works, anything will!)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or ghee
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt

Chop your carrots, don't worry about peeling them, especially if they are organic, and cover with the broth in a pot on the stove.

Bring to a boil, then walk away to watch tv and forget what you're doing until the carrots are almost mush (or, well, not really, just boil them until soft).

Using either an immersion blender if your carrots are really soft or a food processor, puree the carrots and broth until smooth.

Add olive oil, cinnamon and salt and blend well.

Adjust thickness by adding more broth if you wish a thinner soup and adjust seasonings to taste.  The cinnamon flavor will be light, but I like to leave it so and then garnish with extra cinnamon, so you still get the full flavor, without losing the vibrant orange color!

Serve hot or cold, with lots of cinnamon!

Happy eats!

Chocolate Covered Orange (Paleo + Low-FODMAP)

I'm alive, I swear!  I've been sort of subsistence living lately, due to lack of energy, motivation and passion.  I've cooked either basic/boring food, cooked recipes by other people or just plain made the fiancé cook for me while I adjusted to a new work schedule and dealt with the fact that my body was not cooperating with me.

But, I've embarked on a new journey and with it came new passion and energy!  AIP was a great stepping off point in my healing journey, but through it all, I realized that there were other things wrong with me that AIP wasn't fixing.  I've been having indigestion issues and my acne breakouts have travelled up towards my forehead (my chin and jawline are practically clear though, which means my hormones are in a MUCH better place than they've been the last few years!), and my depression has worsened, despite the fact that I spent my winter somewhere relatively warm with lots of sun.  I decided to take on a low-FODMAP plan a couple weeks ago, and then I finally matched up my symptoms, thanks to some help, to potentially simply low stomach acid.  So now I am working on reducing my carbs, increasing my acid intake, plus I will soon start supplementing with HCL.

Sounds fun, right?  Well, it gets better.  I've taken on strict low-FOPMAP paleo, plus no eggs or dairy and NOW I'm dropping my carbs.  So I have to get really creative with comfort food.  Because, I assure you, I need comfort food.

So, this was a really fun discovery.  It is NOT extremely low carb (I said working on, not perfect, ok?), but it is free from added sugars, low-FODMAP and extremely easy and delicious!  I wanted chocolate.  Badly.  But without maple syrup, honey, or any sort of sugar, how could that be?  Well, it turns out that bitter chocolate encasing something sweet taste like sweet, delicious chocolate!

Magic

Chocolate Covered Orange (Paleo + Low-FODMAP, small batch)

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 navel orange, peeled and broken into segments


Simply melt your coconut oil and mix thoroughly with the cocoa powder.  It will be thick but pourable and only mildly coconutty.  More cocoa powder will make it less coconut flavored, but thicker.  Dealer's choice!

Peel your orange and pull into segments (try not to butcher the peeling and be "forced" to eat most of the orange because it's now to ugly to show off).

Two choices here:  either add the orange segments to a bowl or plate and drizzle the chocolate over, or dip the segments in chocolate and place on a wax paper lined dish to harden.
If you store your orange in the fridge like I often do, the chocolate will harden almost immediately. If not, and you want hardened chocolate, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes to solidify.

Yes, I did butcher my orange and only got 5 pieces.  Don't judge me.  

Store in the fridge for hard chocolate (if you don't eat it all right away).

Change it up!  This would work with any tasty, sweeter fruit like bananas or strawberries.  Try it with carob powder to make it AIP!

Cavemanwich Sloppy Joes (Paleo + Whole30)

I don't know about you guys, but I grew up eating Sloppy Joes made with ground beef (or ground soy "meat" once my parents went vegetarian, eiw) mixed with a can o' Manwich on white sandwich buns and loving every messy bite.  It's funny how, even after you clean up your diet and eliminate all those artificial ingredients, you can still crave that exact comforting taste.

Turns out, you can still have those delicious, childhood flavors without all the high fructose corn syrup and fillers.  What?  Real food can be just as delicious as artificially flavored, engineered-to-be-addictive, laboratory food?  Yes.  I'll prove it.

I've added back nightshades in the last few weeks and, boy, did I miss them.  There are just some things that I cannot replicate... YET.  I plan to try. Believe me.  So, for now, I present you all the comforting flavors of your childhood in all their nightshade-y glory.  Though please, cross your fingers and toes that I'll have a follow up in a week or two of these same flavors WITHOUT all their nightshade-y glory.  Yes, I want AIP Manwich.  Cus I can... I hope.

Oh, and it's Whole30 friendly.  You're welcome.


Cavemanwich

1/2 tbsp cooking fat (I used bacon grease, but anything will work)
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 lb ground beef
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2-1 cup water
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp coconut aminos
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
more salt + pepper to taste
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (ACV) - optional

Melt your cooking fat in a sauté pan over medium high heat.
Once hot/melted, add your chopped onions and cook until translucent, approximately 3 minutes.
Add minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, another minute or until fragrant (mmm, garlicky goodness).
Crumble in your ground beef and cook until browned.
Add all remaining ingredients (starting with 1/2 cup water) and reduce heat to medium low and simmer until desired thickness is reached (15-30 minutes), stirring regularly.
Add more salt and any pepper to taste.
Serve over baked sweet potato, plantains, greens or even bread if you're feeling frisky.

Note: if your mix has reduced, but the flavor is still tomatoey, add additional water and continue to simmer.
Note 2: I leave the ACV as optional because, though it makes a more authentic taste, we actually like it best without.  Try it both ways or start without, taste after its cooked down for a bit, then add it and simmer some more if you feel it needs it.  Taste is so individual, isn't it?

I particularly liked it served over a baked sweet potato with a side of lemony baby kale.  Like childhood, but better.

Pumpkin BBQ Sauce 2 ways (Paleo + AIP + Whole30)

Going AIP meant giving up a LOT of the sauces I am most used to: ketchup, mustard and mayo, to start, but then also tomato and barbecue sauce. Talk about rough, right?

Fortunately, pumpkin is kinda a miracle food. Once roasted and puréed, it has a texture similar to tomato sauce and it's light in flavor on its own, so it can be enhanced however you want. 

Through my Whole30, I played with a few variations of pumpkin BBQ sauce, and they were all tasty in their own right: pumpkiny and sweet and a little reminiscent of pumpkin, but I REALLY wanted something that would mimic tomato based sauce. Finally, after my Whole30, I found the missing ingredient. Molasses. It adds that depth that allows the flavor to caramelize and taste just like what I remember of sweet and tangy barbecue. 

Unfortunately, molasses isn't Whole30, but that's ok, my Whole30 modifications may not imitate tomato based BBQ, but the sauce is still a fun, pumpkiny flavor, which might be interesting and different for those of you who maybe CAN have tomatoes, but want to try new flavors!

Pumpkin BBQ Sauce (Whole30 friendly, AIP, no sugar added)

1 can pumpkin

1 cup apple juice
1/2-2/3 cup apple cider vinegar (ACV)
3 medjool dates (pitted and soaked in water for 1 hour)
2 tbsp coconut aminos
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt

First, pit and soak your dates. It's simple, cut out the pits by slicing down the side and pulling them out, then place in a bowl or cup and cover with cold water.  Ignore them for an hour (or forget like me and let them sit for 2-3, it's all good).
Add your dates and 1/4 cup of the soaking water to a blender or food processor (both will work, but a food processor may not get them as smooth).  Blend into as smooth a paste as you can.
Add the date paste and all remaining ingredients to a pot, cover loosely (do not seal, you water it to be able to reduce slightly, but pumpkin bubbles and POPS like crazy, so to spare a huge mess and burned skin, definitely cover).
Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat to simmer for up to one hour, stirring (carefully to avoid being splattered) occasionally.  Adjust seasoning (and vinegar) as needed as you go.  This will not get very dark and will look similar to plain pumpkin puree, but it should be tangy and mildly sweet.  If it reduces too much, add water.

I recommend letting it sit overnight in the fridge before using it to allow the flavors to meld further.

Molasses Pumpkin BBQ Sauce (AIP + Paleo)

1 can pumpkin
1 cup apple juice
2/3 cup ACV
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt

Simply mix all ingredients in a pot, cover loosely.
Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat to simmer for up to an hour, carefully stirring occasionally.
Adjust seasoning as needed and add water if it reduces more than you like.

The molasses in this version balances out the vinegar nicely, which is why I use more ACV and adds depth and color.  It reminds me so much of regular BBQ, but slightly less acidic.  My boyfriend actually likes it better than the usual stuff.

Excuse the mostly empty one.  Girl's gotta eat!

Both work wonderfully for anything calling for BBQ sauce, but my particular favorite is baked BBQ chicken thighs.  I use this recipe by Ree Drummond to go with my sauce: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2014/06/oven-bbq-chicken/

Mmm, crispy, BBQy goodness

Horseradish Beef Stew (Paleo + AIP)

I am a terrible blogger.  I don't sit down and go "I have to come up with something amazing today to share with people, especially since I haven't blogged in a week (or two, or three)", I just occasionally make something I love SO much that I have to share.  Sometimes that takes a month or two.  Sorry, guys.  But guess what?  This is one of those occasions.
Ah man, stew.  I bloody love stew.  I grew up with my mom making typical beef stew.  Ya know, chunks of beef and potatoes and carrots in a thick gravy made with flour.  So simple, yet so delicious. Then she went vegetarian... so no more beef stew.  And it's really hard to find a good stew.  You see all these "stews" with a thin broth base.  That's not stew.  That's soup.  Like how Manhattan Clam Chowder isn't chowder.  I'm from New England, I know these things.
I learned how to recreate my mom's stew last year using cornstarch to thicken, so I could share with my gluten free roommate.  But now, with corn off limits, I haven't had much luck getting the right thickness with arrowroot.  It just wouldn't cooperate.
So, imagine my joy when I made this beauty.  I didn't really set out to make a stew like I remembered.  I just wanted a tasty combination of beef and horseradish.  Instead, I got magical stew.  Have I said stew enough yet today? Stew.  Stew.  STEW.

Anyway.  Yes, there are lots of ingredients, but I promise.  It's easy.  So easy, a caveman could do it (see what I did there?  PALEO).

Why is my stove always dirty?

Horseradish Beef Stew

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs stew beef/chuck roast
2 tbsp cooking fat
1 red onion, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red wine (broth works too, but won't be as rich)
4 cups broth (I used chicken, but I bet beef is rich and amazing)
3 medium carrots
1 large sweet potato
1 cup green beans
3-5 tbsp prepared horseradish*
S&P

*aim for one with no additives except vinegar and salt.  I used Boar's Head

Note:  stew is amazingly flexible.  Don't worry about exactness of the ingredients.  I'm an "approximate" kind of cook anyway.  Don't even worry about cooking time.  You could probably tack on another hour before you add the green beans and it'll just get more tender and amazing.


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and move top rack down to bottom 1/3 of oven
If using chuck roast, chop into 1 inch cubes.  Apply lots of salt and pepper to beef (seriously, don't be stingy)
Heat fat in dutch oven to medium high
Brown meat in batches, remove to a bowl and set aside
Add chopped onion to dutch oven to soften, then add garlic for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant
Pour in cup of wine (or broth), stirring to get bits from the bottom
Simmer to reduce for 5 minutes
Add broth and bring to a boil
Add back beef, including any juice in the bowl, and cover
Place in oven for one hour
Meantime, chop carrots and sweet potato into small cubes, cut green beans into 1/3s
After hour, add carrots and sweets, cook for another hour (you can go longer, don't worry about over cooking), still covered
Finally, mix in green beans.  The sweet potatoes will be a falling apart mess.  THIS IS GOOD!  Let them do their thing as you stir.
Cover and put back in the oven for another 20-30 minutes, depending how soft or crunchy you like your beans.
Stir in horseradish to taste.  You can even leave it out and let individuals add to their bowls if you've got someone who dislikes horseradish (weirdos).  Add s&p to taste, but between the seasoning from the beef and the horseradish, you might be good to go.


The miracle of this stew is that 1.5 hours is way too long for those small chunks of sweet potato and they start falling apart and blending into the broth.  Boom.  Your broth is now gravy.  Now go forth and enjoy this deliciousness.

I usually add more horseradish.  Cus, yum.

Blueberry "Yogurt" Bites (Paleo + AIP)

I discovered during my AIP Whole30 that the hardest thing to eat enough of was fat. I am a nut butter addict, so I had no problems beforehand because whenever I was a bit hungry, I'd pop a spoonful (or three...) of almond or cashew butter in my mouth and go on my merry way.  Don't ever expect me to do that with coconut butter.  Just... no.

Without nuts and seeds to munch for an easy fat source, I'm down to coconut (milk/oil/butter), olives, avocados, bacon and oils/fats.  However, I don't believe cooking my food in an oil/fat really does much and I'm not a huge salad person.  I can devour loads of olives and avocado, but I need some variety in my diet! Also, still not a fan of coconut.  I know, I'm working on it, but I don't think I will ever LOVE the stuff.  So, I disguise it.

Now that my Whole30 is over, I don't have to worry so much about SWYPO and can focus totally on nutrition, regardless of the vehicle.  Therefore, I came up with these little morsels.  All of the fats in coconut, almost none of the taste without a bunch of sugar.  Boom.



Blueberry "Yogurt" Fat Bomb Bites

3/4cup fresh blueberries
1/3cup coconut oil, melted
1/4cup coconut milk
1/4cup coconut butter, softened*

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and pulse until well mixed. Do not worry about the blueberries being totally smooth, that's up to you.
Scoop dollops into a silicon ice cube or candy tray or a paper lined muffin tin.  I used a mini muffin tin for tiny bites.
Refrigerate 30 minutes or until solid.  Store in a sealed container in the fridge.
Keeps for at least 3-4 days, freeze any you don't expect to consume by then.

Try different fruits!  Almost any fresh fruits should work, though the tiny seeds in raspberries and the like may be obnoxious.

*I haven't made these without coconut butter yet, but you may be able to skip by increasing the coconut milk and oil.

Zombie blog!

Guess what?  I'm alive!  

It's been nearly a year since I was actually here and thinking about food and recipes, versus just whining about life and the suffering of a Whole30 (no, really).  Lots has happened since then and I'm in a whole new place, mentally, physically and emotionally.  I'm finding my passion for food returning.  

In honor of this moments feeling, I wanted to bring back this blog and get back to SHARING my passion and my food.  I also wanted it to be special.  I am NOT a baker; I'm not good at it and I usually don't like it.  I've also realized today that I am no good at cake decorating, but we'll talk about that later.  But, celebrations call for cake, right?  So, I made a damned cake.  And it's tasty, even if it's not nearly as pretty as it was in my head.  Best part?  It's all real food.

Now hold on, first, I feel a rant coming on.  I WILL call this treat real food, but I will NOT call it "healthy".  I really hate the word "healthy" in terms of treats and desserts.  I see it happens a lot, particularly from Paleo bloggers or people who "clean-up" favorite treats.  While I love those people and their creations, I say desserts are more than just the sum of their parts.  Sure, they could be made with the exact same ingredients that you might eat separately on a day to day basis (in my case: eggs, plantain and nut butter, which makes a great breakfast!), but when you put them all together in a specific way, it creates a whole new flavor and texture that your brain will respond to differently.  This is more of an emotional health than physical. It creates an incredibly unhealthy relationship with food if you just live on two ingredient banana pancakes.  Am I babbling?  Probably.  But did I make a point?  I hope so.  I only say this to clarify that I will never refer to a dessert/treat as "healthy" and you should not consider them a substitute for an actual meal (except for those days where you decide to have cake for dinner... or breakfast... that totally happens).  You won’t see many desserts from me, I want to focus on whole, healing foods.  But, everyone deserves a treat now and then.

Rant.  Done.  I think.  Anyway, those of you from my absolute favorite app TwoGrand (seriously, check it out if you haven't), might recognize this cake as being very similar to the plantain mug cake that's become a recent craze (also seriously, I feel famous, no lie).  You are correct, I doubled the recipe and added more sweet (who don't like sweet?!) cus this is a dessert, gosh darn it!

I used a 8” cast iron skillet to bake my cake since I don’t have a full size cake pan.  It was the best choice I ever made, except that I really needed twice as much cake for a pan that size, it’s too thin for layering.  Either way, cooking in cast iron is a dream.

Festive Chocolate Plantain Cake with Pumpkin "Cream Cheese" Frosting

Cake

1 ripe plantain (yellow or black)

2 eggs

2 tbsp nut/seed/peanut butter (dealer’s choice)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2-3 tbsp honey/maple syrup

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Blend/thoroughly mix all ingredients, except baking soda.  Adjust sweet and salt to taste (it’s better if it’s a touch sweeter than you want, some of it bakes out).

Mix in baking soda.  

Grease 8” cake pan/skillet with butter or coconut oil (8” should make a thick enough cake you can cut it in half and add a middle cake layer, 10” makes a thin cake) and pour in batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I was so excited by this part.  Yay, cast iron!

Pumpkin “Cream Cheese” Frosting

1 cup raw cashews (soaked 4+ hours)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp coconut butter (coconut oil could work in place)

3 tbsp maple syrup/honey

1tsp cinnamon

salt to taste

Soak your cashews a minimum of 4 hours, up to overnight.  Refrigerate if soaking beyond 4 hours. Drain ands rinse.

Add cashew, pumpkin puree, water and lemon juice to a food processor or high speed blender, blend until smooth.  Add salt to taste, it should be tasting like pumpkin cream cheese now.  

Add the remaining ingredients and blend until fully incorporated.

Tada! You have frosting!

When cake is cool enough, remove from the pan. If you made a thick cake, cut it into two pieces to allow a layer of frosting in the center.  

Frost the darned thing.  Use lots of frosting.  Duh.

Optional Chocolate Ganache for decorating

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup maple syrup/honey

2/3 cup cocoa powder

Mix all ingredients together well.  

Add to a piping bag with a really small tip, or a sandwich bag, cut the tip off.  

Decorate away!  Do better than I did… no, really.

Well... it was a nice idea, right?  I had to fix that mess somehow.  Worst.  Spiderweb.  Ever.

That's a little better, right?  More importantly, it's tasty.  

Rutabaga hash browns

Today was a rough day. I didn't sleep well last night and was headachy, grumpy and super distracted all day. With 5 days left to go, visions of chocolate and cookies have been dancing in my head. My brain is realizing that, pretty soon, I can let loose and eat "fun" things. I've thought through a list of junk and treats that I might POSSIBLY be interested in... and there's a surprising number I DON'T want. What I do very much, emphatically want, is something creamy and/or chewy and sweet and definitely chocolate. So I spent much of today thinking up exactly what treat I will be making for myself this time next week (I'm done in time for Saturday, but I already have plans involving alcohol, so I'll save the sugar for a few more days). In order to satisfy my creamy and chewy (the sweet and chocolate part is a given), I'm thinking a simple, quick paleo mug cake topped with cashew butter as frosting... Yeah, that's the ticket. I'm pumped. 

I've been eating lots of cashew butter alluvasudden. One to two spoonfuls a night, to be precise. I'm annoying myself with it, but I can't get the need for a "treat" food out of my head. I'm just ready for this to be over, particularly since I'm not currently feeling any of the benefits, only the downsides. 

On another note though I'm kinda obsessed with rutabaga latkes right now. They nicely fill that niche of crispy, tasty hash browns and are pretty simple to through together in the morning. And when cooking for one, a single rutabaga lasts a damn long time. 

Easy Rutabaga Latkes/Hash Browns

2 cups rutabaga, peeled and grated

1/2 small onion, grated

2 eggs

2 tsp coconut flour

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp coconut oil

First, peel and grate your rutabaga, either using a grater or the grate attachment on your food processor (my mini food processor has no grating attachment, so I did this by hand... It wasn't too bad). Approximately half of a large rutabaga makes the 2 cups. 

Grate or finely chop onion. 

In a bowl, mix the rutabaga shreds, onion, eggs, flour and salt and pepper to taste thoroughly. 

Heat a skillet to medium heat and melt your coconut oil. 

Scoop a large spoonful of the rutabaga mixture into your hand and shape it into a thick disc before adding it to your hot pan. You should see the edges sizzling in the oil. Add more rutabaga discs and cook approximately 4-5 minutes before flipping and cooking another 4-5 until crispy (mine were kinda blackened, and I was totally ok with that). 

Should make about 6 latkes. Serve with whatever tasties you can think of.  Mine were great with guacamole, cranberry sauce and eggs (not all at the same time... But that's not a bad idea). 

Picture to follow, once I remember to take one after breakfast. Doh. 

Dairy and Grain Free Green Bean Casserole

Happy post thanksgiving, friends! I hope you had much delicious food. I certainly did, and all of it Whole30 friendly. I mean, I definitely over-ate, which is not really in the spirit of the program, and was uncomfortable after, but after I'd digested everything, I felt just as good as I always do lately. No bloating, cravings or food coma the next morning. Not to mention, TONS OF DELICIOUS LEFTOVERS 

(yes, the caps were necessary there, don't judge me). Seriously, I love leftovers. I love them almost more than the original meal. What's most exciting about thanksgiving leftovers, is that you don't have to just eat the same meal again, you can recreate them into a new delicious combination. 

For example, breakfast this morning was a sorta thanksgiving eggs Benedict. 

This triumph was achieved by mixing an egg into some leftover cinnamon butternut squash mash and frying it like a burger, then topping the thing with cranberry sauce and a fried egg. Magic! 

Dinner tonight is a turkey shepherd's pie... Or pot pie... Or just casserole, I'm not too sure what to call it. It's leftover green bean casserole mixed with turkey and gravy, then topped with a layer of the same squash mash (I had a LOT leftover) and baked till delicious. 

I was always a huge fan of the next day (or next three days) turkey sandwich, and don't get me wrong... I still think those are delicious... But who needs the bread? Lunch today was turkey and raw kale topped with homemade mayo. I am thankful. Thankful for leftovers. 

I contributed five items to my family's thanksgiving. Partly as an effort to minimize their work, and partly to ensure there'd be plenty I could eat. I shouldn't have worried, my mom cooked too much as usual (and I convinced her to try roasting her Brussels sprouts instead of boiling, success!), but I am glad for all the extra food. Most contributions were basic: cinnamon mash butternut, gravy, garlic mashed cauliflower and Melissa Joulwan's fantastic Whole30 friendly cranberry sauce, but I also wanted to recreate a favorite of mine from years past: green bean casserole. 

Green bean casserole is usually my contribution to thanksgiving, and I've always made it the "traditional" way, with cream of mushroom soup and French's fried onions. This year, that was off the menu, and I replaced it with this:

Dairy and Grain-Free Green Bean Casserole

2 lbs fresh green beans

1/2 medium cauliflower 

2 cups chicken bone broth

1 medium sweet onion

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic

Oregano

Salt and pepper

Optional: milk alternative to taste

Also optional: mushrooms

First, chop your green beans into 1-2 inch pieces and boil with one cup of chicken broth for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside. 

Preheat oven to 350. 

Cream of cauliflower:

While beans are boiling, chop cauliflower into small florets, smash garlic cloves and boil both with second cup of broth until cauliflower is fork tender. 

Add cauliflower to food processor or blender with a 1/4 cup of the broth from the pot and oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth, add milk to increase creaminess if desired.  

If using mushrooms (I skipped them because my sister dislikes them), roughly chop and sauté in a tbsp of oil over medium heat and add to cream sauce. 

Crispy onions:

Chop onion into long thin strips. I cut rings and then sliced them in half. Heat oil in a pot over medium low heat. Add a layer of onions to the oil and let sit for 4-5 minutes until crisp, stirring once. 

Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel covered plate to drain and add another layer. Repeat until all onions are cooked. 

Assemble!

In a casserole dish, mix green beans, cream sauce and half the cooked onions. Top with remaining onions. 

Baked in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. 

Envision it with MORE onions on top, I definitely did not use enough with only 1/2 an onion. Also, envision a better picture, I'm a terrible photographer. 

Anyway, I was pretty proud of this, the flavor is light and oniony and the texture creamy. Not to mention totally dairy and grain free and optionally vegan. I can certainly see myself making this again... This time properly with mushrooms and not inviting my picky sister to try it... Yeah. 

Baked eggs and Mexican chocolate

Hello from Day 21! Three weeks in and going strong! Well, sort of... I'm honestly not feeling so amazing. My headaches are gone and my energy levels are more stable, also sitting through the day is easier. I should be over the MOON about this... But I keep going through waves of ridiculous cravings, things I couldn't eat even before starting the program like rich chocolate cake with milk chocolate frosting, cheesy pizza and nachos... I think my brain is angry at me for trying to take control and it's lashing out by taunting me with these images. It's no fair. Also, my skin is just as terrible as it started, if not worse... and this past week, I've been beset by bloating and general discomfort. Humph. This all makes for a sad Kate. 

But, that aside, I have two new obsessions. First: baked eggs. I found a small ceramic dish in our cabinet that is the freaking perfect size. 

It's a ridiculously easy dish to make, with endless combinations. My favorites were leftover beef sweet potato hash with broccoli and cinnamon sweet potatoes topped with salsa and avocado. The only issue is it can be time consuming. Pro tip (ya know, from my huge experience making it... three... times... Yeah): have your bottom layers cooked ahead of time. Leftover veggies chopped small are GREAT, or some wilted spinach. 

Anyway, this ain't really a recipe, just a basic how to. Preheat your oven to 400 and fill your dish with a layer of veggies/meat. If they are not precooked, place the dish in your preheated oven till tender.  Crack a couple eggs over your filling and return to the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes until eggs are set. 

Try not to scarf it down. It's hot, for one.  For another, it's just unsightly. 

My second obsession: Mexican chocolate coffee. Chocolate, you say? How can this be, shouldn't you be having nothing sugary during your Whole30? (That's what you're thinking, right? I knew it). Never fear, I've not imbibed of the sugaryness. I simply desired something chocolate. Intensely desired. The smell and rich taste, I needed it. But it didn't need to be sweet, it just needed to be CHOCOLATE. 

The solution? Duh, I said it already. 

Mexican Chocolate Coffee 

2 teaspoons coffee grounds (real coffee, Teeccino or an herbal mix of carob and chicory)

1 teaspoon cocoa powder (real cocoa powder, not hot chocolate mix)

2-3 dashes cinnamon

1 dash of cayenne pepper

Optional: coconut/almond milk to taste

Optional: honey to taste

Brew grounds and spices in a French press (if using a regular coffee maker, brew with cinnamon and cayenne, but save the cocoa powder for after). 

If desired, mix brew with milk to mellow and/or honey to sweeten. The honey will make it more like a mocha. 

This was deep and bitter and a touch spicy. And oh so soothing. Since I use herbal coffee, it makes a great evening drink in place of hot cocoa. 

Weekending and Squash Soup

Hey guess what? I successfully made my squash soup perfectly AND I measured everything. Huzzah! This has been a pretty damn good weekend. I got caught up on just about everything I needed to do, made some tasty food that'll last me for a few days before I need to cook again and I got some serious relaxing, TVing and reading done. I seriously don't remember the last time I had the time and attention span to get through a few hours of reading undisturbed. I even went for a run! *gasp* Well, more of a walk with a few spurts of jogging in between... Anyway, details. It was a good workout on a beautiful, sunny, semi warm (50ish degrees) day and my thighs definitely hurt because I am seriously out of shape. Oof. I think my last run was about 2 months ago. I've got to buy a set of weights to add in some strength training too. I can't expect to fully appreciate my Whole30  if I'm not exercising. No matter what you do, diet is only part of the health cycle, right?

Anyway, aside from my quite tasty (copious amounts of) chicken broth and squash soup, I also made some one pot spaghetti and meatballs today. Oh man, how awesome is that? Hey, don't judge, it's spaghetti squash. 

I can't take credit for this one, like the roast chicken, this one belongs to the gods of the internet. More specifically, I found this on PaleoPot. I didn't follow the recipe, just the idea. I threw in some canned crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, spices and grass fed meatballs flavored like Italian sausage and a spaghetti squash sliced in two and seeds removed. 5 hours on low and magic dinner!

So now I have to decide just what the heck to have for lunch tomorrow: chicken and gravy, spaghetti or squash soup? Maybe all three! Or maybe not...

Anyway, you should see this soup for yourself, eh?

Winter Squash Soup

4 cups winter squash

3 cups chicken/veg broth

1 cup coconut milk

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

salt to taste

Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds and roast open side down at 375 for 30-50 minutes, depending on the type of squash (I've used hubbard, butternut and pumpkin) until soft. Hubbard is tough to cut, so prick it all over and roast for 10ish minutes whole before cutting in half. 

I call Hubbard squash Blue Meanies, partly because I love yelling "Blue Meanies!" and partly because these these are huge and dense. And blue. Duh. But it did make a darn tasty soup that rivaled my previous butternut soup. 

Scoop out the flesh from your cooked squash and add to a pot along with the chicken broth and spices. Mix ingredients well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for up to a half hour. 

Add coconut milk and continue simmering for another 5-10 minutes to reduce the liquid and allow the flavors to meld. 

Adjust seasoning to taste and blend liquid (an immersion blender works great or in batches in a full blender). 

Top with precooked protein or veggies if you want and serve. 

I opted for some leftover ground beef. Man, was this filling. I feel like I'm going to be making a lot of soup this winter. The warm and creamy is the definite combatant of carb cravings. Want pudding? Eat a sweet, creamy soup. Win. 

Whole30 update and roasted sweet potatoes

Today was a rough day. A culmination of an long emotional week, car trouble and cravings (not helped by my office's weekly "share" day involving cookies, cheesecake, and a giant peanut butter ball) led to some serious depression that I desperately kept trying to turn into anger. Anger is preferable to sadness. 

It was fortunate for me that all those treats were loaded with dairy or I might have given in and gorged my feelings. I made it through the day without breaking down into tears or exploding at anyone (though I spent a lot of time fantasizing about how I'd respond the first person who said something I didn't like), made a quick stop at the grocery store and headed home to discover that my roommate had made tacos and left the meat completely plain so I could partake. Yay, instant food! I threw together a simple taco salad with beef, guac, compliant store bought salsa and greens. Still a bit hungry, I threw some sweet potato cubes in the oven for something sweet and creamy. Mmm. I may not have mentioned before, but I'm taking my Whole30 a step further and eliminating fruits for at least the first 21 days. I'm kinda combining the Whole30 and the 21 Day Sugar Detox together. Why? Because I'm crazy, probably. But really,  it's tough for me to beat sugar cravings, I feel like I'm likely to use fruit as a crutch to get through the process and then I'll just plain still have sugar cravings in the end. So, the few indulgences the 21DSD allows are sweet potatoes and green apples... In moderation. *deep breath* I can do this. In fact, less than half a sweet potato was enough to satisfy. Huzzah! Amazing what just a little cinnamon and salt can do, eh?

They're super easy to make!

Cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes

1 medium sweet potato

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Cinnamon

Sea salt

Preheat your oven to 375 and chop sweet potato into approximately 1" cubes. 

Toss with oil, cinnamon and salt.

Roast for 20-30 minutes until tender. 

Gobble them up like the delicious things they are. 

Plus side this week, I'm pretty food crazy. Like, excited about cooking ALL the things using whatever I've bought ahead of time. Including some "weirder" ingredients that I've never played with before. This week being beets and leeks. Beets aren't weird, I know, but I've never cooked with them before and I'm getting really into using EVERYTHING and reducing food waste (cus I'm poor, duh, and this crap's expensive). So I'm playing with beet greens and stems too. More on that later. :)

I've got some exciting food plans this weekend. I've got NO plans outside my house, so hopefully I'll have more tasty food things to share soon. 

I'm also keeping a detailed log of what I eat and how I feel on a day to day basis, as well as a list of my symptoms. I'm pumped to see how they change over the next few weeks. 

Beef and brussel stuffed carnival squash

Well, today certainly had its ups and downs. I woke feeling just a little bit of that "new things!" excitement, took all my before measurements and pictures and moseyed down to make breakfast and lunch. Success.  I roasted come carrots and chicken legs and scrambled a couple eggs with smoked salmon. I took my vitamins, got dressed and headed to work.

That's where the down part came in. I hoped to ride the new things high through the day, at least, before the inevitable bout of cravings and miserableness hit me on day two or three. Unfortunately, the headache I've been suffering at work hit immediately and harder than usual (this is another thing I'm hoping to fix, for sure). The first half of this week was pretty rough, emotionally and I'm still regaining control. I was just enough distracted still to not accomplish much today. On top of that, I realized that I didn't check the ingredients in my vitamins before taking them this morning. Turns out, one of them has rice flour AND soy lecithin. Sigh. So now I have to decide if I am starting day one again tomorrow without the lawbreaking vitamins or if I continue taking them as a daily cheat... Hmm. 

But hey, upside! I made a super tasty and simple dinner tonight! Wanna see it?

Beef and brussel stuffed carnival squash

Ingredients

1 carnival squash

1/2 lb ground beef

2 cups Brussels sprouts

S&P 

Preheat oven to 400, cut squash in half and scrape out seeds (save them for roasting!). Place cut side down in a pan and bake for 30-45 minutes, until soft. 

Remove the hard nobs at the end of the Brussels sprouts and slice in half. 

Crumble and brown the beef in a pan. If using grass fed beef, reserve the fat in the pan and remove the meat to a bowl (if using regular beef though, drain the fat and add your own cooking fat to the pan).

Add the sprouts to the fat and cook until easily pierced with a fork. Add back the browned meat and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Fill the hollow in the center of each squash half with beef and sprout mixture. 

Scoop out forkfuls of delicious!

Slow Cooker Mocha Pot Roast

Mmm, pot roast. You're probably looking at the title, thinking I'm crazy, but I assure you, I am quite sane... Well, ok, I'm sorta sane... But I am right about this! I got inspiration for this from my chocolate chili. Then I googled it and was both bummed and justified to discover that I wasn't the first to think of it, there are recipes all over! I went ahead with it anyway and was not disappointed. Cocoa might be my new favorite seasoning for beef. It adds a ...something... that I can't quite describe to it, but it's a smooth sort of flavor. The coffee seemingly did the same. I'm definitely going to be making this again, possibly during my detox! Anyway, here's the deal:

Slow Cooker Mocha Pot Roast

2lb beef roast

2tbsp cocoa

2tsp paprika

1tsp cinnamon 

1tsp sea salt

1/2tsp cumin

1/2tsp ground ginger 

1/2tsp black pepper

1/4tsp cayenne

1 med onion

2 cups strong coffee

Mix spices together to create a rub. Pat roast dry and apply spices on all sides. 

Chop up onion in wedges and add to the bottom of the pot, pour coffee over. 

Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat and sear sides of meat.

(Unless you have one of those large, oblong cookers, I don't recommend getting a huge, rectangle roast like I did. It barely fit in the damn pot and some bits were dry in the end)

Settle roast on top of onions and coffee and set slow cooker to low. Leave for 8 hours or until internal temperature is between 145-170. 

 

Goes very well with simple roasted butternut squash! Happy eats!

Slow cooker chocolate chili

Man, it's been a long day... Week... Month... Whatever. Preparing tasty food energizes me. There are lots of things that I'd never cooked before 6 months ago. Chili was one of those things. It always just seemed so scary and complicated. Not to mention I loathe cutting onions. Like, really. Eventually, I realized that onions are a necessary (delicious) evil. I'd still rather not cut them and am pretty good at wheedling someone else to do it for me (hint: bribe 'em with chocolate), but it has opened many doors for food. Like chili. 

I started researching chili and discovered, it's really not so hard. Meat, tomatoes, onions and spices and cook forever! Still, making really good chili is less easy. My first attempt was meh...this time... I think I fixed all the issues. Now, I didn't want the regular, most common chili flavor and I found a lot of recipes for chocolate chili in my searches. Needless to say, I was intrigued. Chocolate AND chili? Yes please. 

Wanna see what I came up with?

Bam. Bowl of delicious. Oh, and it's Paleo. 

Slow Cooker Chocolate Chili

1 large vidalia onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds ground beef

1 teaspoon oregano

1-2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Optional: 1-2 tablespoons chili flakes for some BURN

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon salt

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add ground beef, crumbling and stirring into the pan to brown.

Drain some of the fat from the ground beef and add contents of pan into your crock pot, then toss in your diced onions, garlic and spices, mixing well.

Add canned tomatoes.  Stir well and turn crock pot on low.  Let sit covered for 8-9 hours.  Perfect to leave for the work day!

Acorn Squash Bowls

I warned you that I was butternut squash obsessed, right? Well, that maaaaay have expanded. I also have a Hubbard squash and a couple sugar pumpkins to play with... Yay! 

When I bought my enormous load of butternuts, I also grabbed an acorn squash, which, believe it or not... I've never eaten. My mom cooks it all the time, but I was just completely turned off by its appearance. If anyone is gathering by this point that my mom is a terrible cook, you'd actually be incorrect, I ate lots of tasty things growing up, but we just did not and do not see eye to eye on certain methods of food prep. For example, she prepared acorn squash by cutting it in half and baking it with brown sugar and walnuts in the hollow center, which I thought to be just... weird. I hate nuts cooked into food. Doesn't everyone? No? Well, ok... Moving on. 

Well, I didn't like butternut squash growing up either, but it turns out that I just don't like all the sugar and gunk that Americans think is necessary to add. So, considering my newfound appreciation for certain foods, namely butternut and sweet potato... I thought it was time to give acorn a try too. Today, I was trying to figure out what to do with it, as I was QUITE sure, I did not want the traditional brown sugar filling. 

Then I found something on PaleOMG.com (one of my favorite sites by the way). Baked Acorn Squash CANDY.  What? Candy? 

But, holy crap, it IS candy. I thought I was eating dessert for dinner. I think acorn squash may be my new favorite food. Yeah, I said it. Favorite. I look forward to playing with it more. In the meantime, here's what I did based on Juli's recipe:

Baked Acorn Squash Bowls

1 acorn squash

2 slices of bacon

Cinnamon

Sea salt

Preheat oven to 415.

Cut the squish in half from top to bottom and scoop out seeds (reserve your seeds for roasting!). 

Place halves cut side down on a baking sheet or dish and bake for about 25 minutes, till soft (squishy!)

While squash is baking, cook bacon in a pan on the stove till crispy. Place on a papertowel covered plate to drain excess fat, but reserve the fat in the pan. 

Once you remove the squash from the oven, flip over so the cut side is up. 

Using a couple forks (don't burn yourself!), scrape and mash the squash inside the skin. Add a small spoonful of the bacon grease from the pan to each squash half, then crumble in a slice of bacon to each. Add salt and cinnamon to taste and mix well. 

Mmm, this made it super easy. Lookit that!

Serve in the skin "bowl" with whatever your heart desires. Enjoy!

Im intrigued to see if this would work as well with another source of fat, such as coconut oil or ghee. Care to give it a try and let me know?