Paleo Almond Vanilla Sponge Bread

Practical Paleo - Almond Sponge Bread

We had really high hopes for this Almond Sponge Bread from Diane Sanfilippo's Practical Paleo. It looked great, moist and "spongie". The kids sat eagerly waiting for me to cut them each a piece. Everyone took one bite and spat it right back out. We tried adding honey butter to give it some flavor and sweetness. It was still barely edible.

This recipe was a flop at our house. I'm sure we will encounter numerous recipes as we venture into real nutrient dense eating that don't suit the palates at our house.

Paleo Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Paleo Sweet Potato Gnocchi 

I'm on the hunt for carb dense paleo recipes. I've been strictly paleo for just over a month now and I've lost about 10 pounds. Five pounds would have put me at my goal weight. 10 is almost too much. My husband is convinced I'm on some crazy diet to lose weight.

I'm still learning how to keep myself nourished. It is harder when you can't just grab something out of the cupboard. I've skipped a few meals over the last month because there was nothing "acceptable" for me to eat. I've assured my husband that I will figure this out and that starting to eat cheese and desserts again is not the only solution.

I made a big batch of carb dense sweet potato gnocchi on Sunday. It was VERY time consuming, but the results were super yummy! I had enough to take leftovers for lunch yesterday, I added some to my breakfast this morning and I still have some left over for tomorrow. The gnocchi reheats well in the microwave and in the oven.

My husband loved the gnocchi, the kids are on the fence. It's a little too different for them to like but I think it will grow on them.

The recipe for Paleo Grubs "Yummy Sweet Potato Gnocchi" is easy to follow. I used the measurements listed in the recipe and they worked great for me. I did leave my batter in the refrigerator for about 5 hours before I cooked it and I peeled my potatoes before cooking them wrapped in tin foil. Rolling out the ropes, boiling and frying the gnocchi is a lot of work and it's super messy! My kitchen looked like a grease bomb had exploded.

Be prepared to spend a lot of time in the kitchen from preparation to cooking to cleaning up. Don't forget to wear an apron!!!

Dairy Free Chocolate Custard

Dairy Free Chocolate Custard

Nothing about making the move to nutrient dense paleo has left my tastebuds wanting. Sure sometimes I can't find a quick snack but I'm eating some of the best food I've ever made!

Last week I was on a mission to create a paleo custard recipe.  My first attempts were eatable but not mouth watering. My first success was a vanilla custard which will be featured in the September issue of Stepmom Magazine. Last night I had a sweet tooth and all the right ingredients to attempt a chocolate custard!

This custard doesn't set up super firm. I don't mind the slightly runny consistency. If you want a firmer custard, slowly add a little bit of arrowroot powder to the mixture in step 8. This will also speed along the process if you don't want to stand over the stove string for 20-30 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 TBS cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 3 TBS honey
• 2 egg yolks
• cinnamon (optional)
• cayenne pepper (optional)
• arrowroot (optional)

Directions:

Don’t cheat or rush any of these steps. If you do, you won’t get great results!

1. Make a double boiler out of a large pan and a small pot. Fill the pan half full of water on the stove over low heat. Put the pot inside the pan.
 
2. Add the coconut milk, vanilla extract, and honey to the pot and heat it till it's hot.
3. Turn off your stove. Leave the pan and pot where they are.
4. In a heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks.VERY slowly, one tablespoon at a time, transfer the hot coconut mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly. You will curdle your eggs if you do this too quickly.

5. Transfer the mixture back to the cooking pot.

6. Turn the stove back on low and whisk in the cocoa powder.

7. Whisk lightly but constantly until the mixture thickens. This takes 20+ minutes. If you aren't getting the consistency you want you can slowly sprinkle arrowroot powder into the mixture. Only add about 1/8 tsp at a time. 
8. When you achieve a good consistency, strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into serving dishes. This will catch the clumps you likely didn’t even know you had.
9. Allow the custard to cool. 
10. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight to allow it to fully setup.
11. Sprinkle with cinnamon and cayenne to serve.

Asparagus Soup for Bladder Infection

Asparagus Soup

How would you like to stare down a cup of asparagus soup like this in the morning? And again in the afternoon... and another one that night? I'm going to be doing exactly that for the next three days.

One of the reasons I started my nutrient dense paleo adventure was my chronic low back pain. I have a congenital defect where my L5 vertebra is partially fused to my sacrum. For over three years now my back has been bothering me daily to varying degrees. Researching online I started finding articles about the paleo diet, more specifically eating nutrient dense, real food and the effects it could have on chronic inflammation. Going paleo wasn't going to be a huge dietary change for me. I was already gluten free and eating about 80% paleo anyway.

About 2 weeks into my paleo experiment, my back pain got worse. A lot worse. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I also got a bladder infection, another issue I've been plagued with over the past few years. Frustrated with my latest bladder infection I consulted Google for some home healthy home remedies. I found a great list on Natural News, three sounded doable; cranberry pills (or juice), lemon water, and asparagus.

I drink lemon water every morning already. I needed to increase my dose though. So I've upped it to the juice of 2 lemons in 10 oz of water.

Not wanting to add another drink to my routine, I'm opting for the cranberry pill once a day.

I was most intrigued by the asparagus remedy:

Take about 5 or 6 asparagus stalks and boil them in a small pot until very tender. Eat them and drink the juice from the pot. Repeat two or three times daily to help clear the infection quickly.

Chowing down on soggy asparagus and drinking the water however did not sound very palatable. So, I made soup.

I drank it for a day with my breakfast, lunch and dinner. My bladder irritation did improve and so did my back pain! Neither were cured after just one day so I am going to try my 3 part remedy for the next 3 days.

Asparagus Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches of asparagus, ends removed, cut into 2" pieces
• water
• 3/4 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• crispy prosciutto (optional)
• olive oil (optional)

Soup Directions:

1. Wash and cut your asparagus. 
2. Put the cut asparagus in a pot and add enough water to just cover it.
3. Add salt and pepper.
4. Cook on med heat until super tender, about 7-10 minutes should do the trick. 
5. I turn off my stove and let the asparagus and water cool for about 15 minutes before I throw it in my blender. 
6. Pour some in a bowl or cup and top with crispy prosciutto and a drizzle of olive oil. 
7. Store the rest in a bowl in the fridge to reheat on the stove later. I store my prosciutto in a separate bowl to keep it crispy. 

Crispy Prosciutto:

1. Preheat your over to 350 degrees. 
2. Cover a baking tray with parchment paper.
3. Lay 3 slices of prosciutto on the parchment paper.
4. Cook in the oven until just crispy (about 5 minutes)
5. Let the prosciutto cool, then chop it up. 

Plantain and Egg Breakfast

Plantains and Eggs

When I was in El Salvador, I loved the typical breakfast; fried plantains, eggs, cream, beans and a bit of cheese. Fried plantains have been a favorite of mine ever since.

I made the plantains yesterday thinking that the kids would eat them up. I was wrong. They took half a bite, got that look kids get when their tastebuds reject what they've put in their mouth, and told me apologetically they didn't like it. Poor little sugar bugs, their taste buds must be really messed up if these weren't sweet enough for them.

Luckily my plantains re-heated perfectly in the oven for this meal. I was pretty skeptical when I pulled them out of the fridge but 10 minutes baking in the oven at 400 did the trick!

Ingredients:

• fried plantains (recipe to come)
• 2 pasture raised eggs
• 1/2 and avocado
• 1 - 2 TBS coconut oil or ghee
• salt and pepper to taste
• avocado oil (optional)

Directions:

1. While your plantains are re-heating in the oven, cook your eggs as you like them in a pan with coconut oil or ghee. I love fried eggs, I break the holds and let the runny goodness flow forth. 
2. Remove you plantains from the oven. Place a heap of them on your plate. I you are like me you will want to put your eggs on top of the plantains so that the yolk will run all over them. If you are a scrambled egg type of person and don't like your food to touch, you can just put them next to each other on your plate. 
3. Add your slice avocado and sprinkle the whole meal with salt and pepper to your liking. If you want you can drizzle some avocado or olive oil on your avocado. Squeezing some lemon on it would be a good option too. 

Coco-Nutty Grain Free Porridge - Practical Paleo

Paleo Grain Free Porridge

Looks delicious doesn't it? My most recent paleo cookbook purchase was Practical Paleo by Diane Sangilippo. I love that the first half of the book is a guide to shopping, eating out and understanding the relationship between food and our health. It's super informative and laid out really well!

I wasn't a huge fan of the Coco-Nutty Porridge. Admittedly, I have never liked "porridge" so it might just be me. It was filling though, and for me sometimes that's enough. Not enough to make it again though.

I opted to use the full fat coconut milk over the water option in the recipe but ended up needing to add water as well to get a good consistence.

If you are a fan of porridge, this might be a great alternative to your morning oatmeal. Personally I'm going to stick with my Berry Yummy Breakfast (recipe to come).

Traveling Paleo

Carrot Juice with Lemon and Lime - Flora Farm

The timing for my transition to paleo wasn't exactly ideal. One week after I started my journey down the nutrient dense path, I was at my cousin's wedding in San Diego for 2 days. No drinks, no dessert and I put up with the "special" meal they provided me. Why does gluten free often translate to a plate of steamed vegetables? Luckily there was a Trader Joe's near the hotel. I pretty much lived on olives and cashews. 

A week after that I was on vacation in Mexico, land of rice, beans and corn tortillas. I was actually amazed at the number of amazing restaurants we found in Baja. Farm to Table has found Los Cabos. We had some amazing meals at Flora Farm outside of San Jose del Cabo. Rancho Pescadero  just south of Todos Santos was great too. 

My husband rolls his eyes but, every restaurant I've eaten at over the last month, here and abroad, has been happy to accommodate my dietary choices by replacing carbs with extra veggies. Dropping the carbs, sugar and dairy has been A LOT easier than I thought it was going to be.

Crock Pot Carnitas

Crock Pot Carnitas on Plantain Tortillas with shredded
cabbage, cilantro, avocado and paleo mayonnaise 

I almost followed a recipe from Slim Palate when I made these carnitas. I printed it out, I bought the ingredients and I cut up the pork... Then I sorta decided I knew better. Or more accurately, I finally read the whole recipe and realized it was for some kind of crispy carnitas. I've never heard of that. I like my carnitas wet and full of flavor.

These carnitas and the plantain tortillas got the seal of approval from my husband. The kids LOVED the carnitas but they were to wary to stray from their flour tortilla and try one made of "bananas?!?!" Too weird for them.

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder butt roast, cut into 3 or so inch chunks. Don't worry about being exact. Mine were chunks were super messy and not uniform at all!
• 5 cloves chopped garlic
• 2 tsp chili powder (I used New Mexican style)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup squeezed lime juice
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• water

Directions:

1. Get your crock pot ready, turn it to high
2. Mix up the chili powder, cumin and salt. Rub it all over your chunks of meat.
3. Throw your meat in the crock pot. Add the chopped garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and lime juice. 
4. Pour enough water over the meat to just barely cover it. 
5. Let the meat cook for 4 hours. 
6. Move the meat to a big bowl using a big slotted/straining spoon. Use forks to shred your pork. DON'T get rid of the juice. Leave it right there in the crock pot. 
7. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves from the crock pot and throw them away. 
8. Return the meat to the crock pot. Leave the crock pot open and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. I like to pick out any really big chunks of fat during this time. 
9. Turn your crock pot off and use your slotted/straining spoon to remove the meat from the pot again. Let the excess juices strain off the meat and move it to your serving dish. 

Serve with your favorite taco condiments! 

Paleo Breakfast Stack

I am not even kidding when I say that the first time I made this Paleo Breakfast Stack I wanted to lick my plate. I seriously considered doing it.

I call it a breakfast stack but it doesn't have to be. To be completely honest, I called it a Paleo Breakfast Stack because I figured "Paleo Breakfast" would SEO better than "Portobello Breakfast" or "Open Face Egg Sandwich". The recipe was originally something I made for dinner one night when my planned dinner was going to take a few hours longer than I anticipated.  I stared into my fridge debating what to do. It was full of options but nothing really sounded good.

Oh happy accident! I hope you like it as much as I do!

Ingredients:

• 1 roasted portobello mushroom (see Portobello Mushroom Buns)
• 2 slices prosciutto 
• 1 thick slice tomato
• 1 fried egg
• 3 basil leaves, torn
• 1 dollop paleo mayonnaise 
• 1 TBS oil, I prefer avocado
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. If your mushroom cap is cold warm it in your oven. I guess you could use your microwave, but I'm anti-microwave. It doesn't have to be hot, just a little warmed up. 
2. Prepare all your ingredients as your mushroom warms. 
3. Heat your pan on the stove, add your oil and fry your egg. I like to sprinkle salt and pepper on my egg while it is cooking.
4. Plate your mushroom stacking all the ingredients on top of each other and plop a big dollop of paleo mayonnaise on top.
5. Eat up. If you want to lick your plate, you can. 

Banana Rama Roundup

      Yellow Plantains                Black Plantains                      Bananas

Over the weekend I went banana crazy. I have been meaning to make banana bread for the kids and finally I have perfect bananas. Nom Nom Paleo's Plantain Fritters look scrumptious and I read somewhere about plantain tortillas.
plantain fritters are in nom nom paleo, food for humans cookbook.

plantain fritters

First up, Plantain Fritters! I was super excited about these. They weren't hard to make. I don't think I messed mine up but I didn't love them.

Mine did puff up a bit, but not as much as the picture in the cookbook. Michelle (Nom Nom Paleo) does say in the cookbook "overwork it, and you'll end up with a tray of dense, gummy pucks." That does sound a little like what I got...

I didn't love the flavor of the fritters so I probably won't attempt them again, but I was inspired with a fritter idea of my own that I hope to try out soon!

plantain tortillas

Next up, plantain tortillas from Zenbelly. I was intrigued by these. How could they possibly work? What in the world would hold them together?

I guess the plantain is starchy enough to work some magic because these tortillas do hold together, fold and roll just like Zenbelly says they will.

I was so surprised by these, for a few reasons that they got their own post  - read it here along with my notes on the process of making them, their texture and their taste.

Last monkey mess for the day, Banana Bread by Slim Palate.  My kids declared this bread is, "delicious!!!" I love it when this happens. It's not very often I can feel good about the food they eat. They are my stepchildren which means I don't have much control over their S.A.D. diet and trust me it is so sad it hurts. Their dad and I didn't love the banana bread, but I will continue to make it for the kids.

3 kids polished of the whole loaf in one afternoon!

A friend of mine also tried this recipe, she called what she ended up with banana porridge. I took Joshua's advice and used Bob's Red Mill Coconut flour. I opted to use 2 bananas not 3, and only 1/4 cup honey. I also let the batter sit for 15 minutes to let the flour start to absorb the liquid before I put it in to oven (something I learned from a Paleo cookie recipe). It seems to have worked because I have a loaf of bread, no runny mess.

Plantain Tortillas by Zenbelly

Plantain Tortillas - recipe by Zenbelly

I am more impressed by these plantain tortillas by Zenbelly than I originally thought I was. I made them for the first time yesterday as part of my banana recipe weekend. My initial thoughts were: these are a lot of work and they taste like banana. But... they would probably be really great with carnitas.

I didn't finish making the full batch, it was such a slow process. I was really thinking this would be the first, and the last time I made these tortillas. My husband is out of town this weekend so last night I pulled out the remainder of my Nom Nom Paleo Roast Beast for dinner. I grabbed the tortillas, lettuce, avocado and Paleo mayonnaise (also Nom Nom).
The Roast Beast and mayonnaise recipes I used are from the cookbook "Nom Nom Paleo, Food for Humans", I didn't see them on the website.

This morning I pulled the tortillas out again and ate them with chicken apple sausage. By this point I'm regretting that I didn't make the full batch. I'm planning on making carnitas for my husband tonight and to use these tortillas, but at this rate I won't have enough left!

I will be making plantain tortillas again. Next time I will make the full batch because clearly with the right meal I like them.

Taste:
These plantain tortillas have a very distinct taste. They taste like banana. I wouldn't use them to wrap everything, but I can definitely think of instances where the plantain taste can enhance an overall recipe. I'm thinking carnitas here! I'll let you know how that turns out.

Texture:
The texture of these plantain tortillas is great! They really are very traditional tortilla like. They fold and they roll without breaking or cracking.  They look like traditional corn tortillas as well.

Process:

• Mixing the ingredients up is easy, throw it all in the food processor and there you go! 
• Zenbelly suggests using a ladle and wet fingers to spread out the tortillas. I found using plastic spatula much easier and less messy. 
• I only managed to get 3 tortillas on each tray. 
• My tortillas are about 4.5" each and I could have easily made at least 21 with the amount of batter I had following the recipe. 
• Make sure not to let the edges of the tortillas get to thin. They will start to burn before the rest of the tortilla is cooked. 
• When you make these, think street tacos - small, slightly thicker tortillas. 
• The tortillas re-heat well. I have been warming them on the stove in a dry pan on low heat. 

Zenbelly Plantain Tortillas Recipe

What I'm Reading - Eat the Yolks

This month I am reading "Eat the Yolks" by Liz Wolfe, NTP. As I'm making the shift to "Paleo" I don't think I could have found a better book to be reading. One of my biggest issues with Paleo is the whole Paleo stereotype. The images of cavemen and the extreme view points of about the "diet" don't work for me. I don't buy into the "diet", Paleo isn't a diet. It is a choice to eat real food, not concoctions cooked up in a lab being marketed as food. Someone decided to call it Paleo and it stuck. 

"Eat the Yolks" is about real food. Liz does a great job of breaking down technical biology and science and presents it in a plain, easy to understand, sometimes funny English. I stopped buying into the myths we are fed about food years ago. "Eat the Yolks" is opening my eyes not just deeper into those negative myths but also enlightening me with the benefits of those same foods we have been told are so bad like cholesterol and fat. 

I had no idea how important cholesterol is to our bodies. I was really surprised to learn that high cholesterol is associated with higher rates of survival than low cholesterol in heart failure patients. I've never known anything about low cholesterol except that it was "good". I'm not buying that anymore, thanks Liz!

The book isn't about Paleo. It's the groundwork for understanding real food and overcoming the lies we have come to believe as truth. I had no idea how many food lies I was still buying into. 

Portobello Mushroom Paleo Buns

Portobello Mushroom Paleo Buns

Portobello Mushroom Buns! Brilliant!!! For years I've been trying to wrap my burgers in lettuce only succeeding to make a slightly smaller mess of myself than if I'd just squeezed ketchup and mustard in my hand then added lettuce, tomato and the burger.

I did not come up with this idea on my own. I saw it on Pinterest and then on every Paleo blog out there. There are quite a few variations on the Portobello Bun. You could get really fancy, but I like to keep things simple. I also use these buns as sandwich bread so I usually make 3 buns (6 mushrooms) at a time. I can also cut them up and quickly add them to omelets or a salad.

Ingredients:

• Oil
• Salt
• Portobella Mushrooms (at least 2)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees 
2. Clean your mushrooms and remove it's stem and gills.
3. Rub your mushrooms with about a teaspoon of oil. Sprinkle them generously with salt.
4. Place them on a baking tray gill side down and cook for about 10 minutes. Flip the mushrooms over and cook for another 7 minutes. (Thicker mushrooms may need to cook longer.)
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Don't forget your napkins. The buns still aren't as absorbent as a bread bun but they are much more satisfying than a lettuce wrap! To avoid mess, consider dipping your burger in your condiments instead of putting them on your "buns".