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!!!

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).

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