Category: Holidays

Raw Mint Macaroons

4/11/2017

Spring is here, and the mint in my garden is happy and abundant! It inspired me to make mint macaroons. You can make these with or without cocoa. The two versions with the same procedures are to follow. Light and not too sweet. Just right.

Makes 20-25 small (1 tbs.) cookies

Chocolate Mint Macaroon: White Mint Macaroon:
1 cup Blanched Almond Flour   1 cup Blanched Almond Flour
1 cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut 1 cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
1/4 tsp. Sea Salt 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Vanilla   1/2 tsp. Vanilla
3 drops Stevia 3 drops Stevia
1/2 cup Duch Process Cocoa Powder 4-5 tbs. Coconut Oil, melted
4-5 tbs. Coconut Oil, melted 2-3 tbs. Honey or Maple Syrup
2-3 tbs. Honey or Maple Syrup 1/2 tsp. Mint extract
1/2 tsp. Mint extract 1/4 cup Fresh Mint, chopped
1/4 cup Fresh Mint, chopped   1/2 cup GF Chocolate chips
1/2 cup GF Chocolate chips

Place all your ingredients in a bowl.

If you can find the mini chocolate chips, they look the best since this cookie is on the small side.

If making the white mint cookies, wash and finely chop your mint. Then add to the mixture.

Mix everything with a spoon until well combined. You want the "dough" to be slighty wet but also sticky.

If you squeeze some of it, it needs to make a loose ball.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Wet an ice-cream scoop or spoon so the "dough" doesn't stick to it. Then scoop and pat the mixture in tight. Tap the side of the spoon and it should slide right out.

Let it set up in the fridge for an hour (or freezer for 20min). Store in a glass container in the fridge.

Great for a light dessert after a heavy dinner.

Minty goodness!

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Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Pie

7/30/2016

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It's summer! Had to think up a fun snack for some Vegan clients of mine. Their kids love peanut butter, but this could easily be any nut butter you prefer. I like to serve it on a hot day directly out of the freezer for added coolness, but texture is wonderful out of the fridge, too. Happy no-baking! Keep cool....

Crust ingredients:
6-8 Madjool Dates, soaked 1 hour
3/4 cup Raw Almonds
1/2 cup Raw Walnuts
Salt
Optional: 3 Tbs. Raw Cocoa powder

Filling:
1/2 cup Grape juice
1 tsp Agar agar or grass fed gelatin
1 can High fat Coconut cream (like 15% or higher)
1 cup Nut butter of choice
1/4 cup of sweetener of choice (I used honey but maple or date, etc would be fine)
4 drops of Stevia
1 tsp. Vanilla
pinch of Sea Salt
2 Tbs. Coconut oil, at liquid temp.

Make your crust. Fist blend your nuts into a powder in a food processor. Then strain and chop your dates. Add enough to make a sticky pliable crust to pat into a pan.

Pat your crust into a pan. I used a 9"

If you have leftover crust, it makes nice snacks. Just roll into a log and cut into bite sized pieces. Wrap in parchment paper. See here for more instructions...

Nut snacks

Bring your apple juice and agar (or gelatin) to a boil for 3-5 min until dissolved.

Mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl and place in the fridge or freezer to start the stiffening process.

When you can see that the filling is stiffening due to the gelding, not freezing, then take it out and mix it smooth with a whisk.

Then pour into your pie pan and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours to set up.

If you'd like to make a ganache topping, you can prep that now. It's great drizzled on top or as a chocolate layer on top.

This is how it looks when set up. Easy to cut, but soft.

YUMmmmmmm!!!

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Monkey Bread

12/25/2015

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Monkey Bread? Oh yeah.... MONKEY bread! I don't know if it's a real thing or if my mom just called it that for us as kids cuz it was fun, but monkey bread is a great name for it! It falls apart after baking into balls. No throwing, now!

You can make it plain, cinnamon, herb... whatever you like. I show both applications here for plain and cinnamon.

This recipe is for after you have a ready-dough. I don't post much about grains and bread, but for those special occasions, this one is a fun alternative!

Favorite bread dough (I used Pamela's GF Pizza dough here)
Butter or other fat of choice

Optional:
Herbs
Cinnamon and sugar
Etc...

Make your dough per the instructions. Tear off small pieces.

Roll them into balls and dip into butter.

Place into an oiled bread pan.

For a cinnamon sugar monkey bread, dip your buttered dough ball into a bowl with cinnamon and sugar before adding to the pan.

I used coconut sugar here, but maple sugar, cane sugar or xylitol will work just fine.

Cover the dough and place somewhere warm. To make it rise faster, you can put it over a bowl or pan of steaming water.

Once it has fully risen, bake uncovered per the instructions. Be mindful to watch it so you don't burn it. It may be in a smaller pan than intended and will cook faster.

These baked at 350 for 30min.

They will just break apart when you grab them. Serve whole so others can have some monkey business!.

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Grain Free Pizzelles

12/8/2015

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If you have a pizzelle maker, you're my hero! Let's be friends! These cookies are so fun and very traditional at the holidays. The smell of anise and sugar is one from my childhood that makes me smile. It's a very particular association that most Italians have. If you haven't tried them before, call an Italian friend and ask if you can borrow their pizzelle maker to try them out. If you have an ice cream cone maker, you can also use that. (A waffle iron is too deep.) These irons are around $39 online. I chose the entertaining size, but they also come in a larger size.

1 1/4 cup Blanched almond flour (it's important that it's blanched)
2 tsp. Coconut flour
1/2 cup Arrowroot
1/2 cup Maple sugar (or preferred crystal sugar)
1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tbs. Anise seeds (or extract -about 2 tsp.)
1/2 cup Grass Fed Butter, melted
3 Medium sized eggs

Optional: Lemon zest

Mortar and pestle or coffee grinder
Pizzelle iron

Grind your seeds. No need to make it too fine.

Heat your iron to level 4 or 5.

Mix your dry ingredients then add your eggs and butter and slowly incorporate until its all evenly distributed.

*I've tried many sugars and many flours. This combination is my favorite. It's not too sweet and doesn't give me a sugar headache. But also makes them light like regular cookies.

Adding a little lemon zest really makes things pop.

You can try it now or after you've made half the batter into cookies, just to compare and see if you like it.

Add about 1 tsp. or so of batter to the center of each little pizzelle. You'll figure out how much exactly you need for your iron.

Too much!

Perfect.

As you close the top, let it rest with gravity for a few seconds to cook before pushing down all the way to clip it shut. This makes for nicely formed cookies that are not too thin.

Try it both ways to see which you like.

This recipe makes 32-36 cookies in my sized iron. Feel free to dust with powdered sugar of choice if needed. I like them just like this.

Make enough to take to your neighbors. After all, that's part of the joy of cookies!

Let the party begin...

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Persimmon Crumble Pie

11/26/2015

I wait all year for Persimmons to be in season. It's a short one! They are perfect for Thanksgiving as they look like little pumpkins! I love pie, but it's often way too sweet for me. I've included a nice mildly sweet version that you can adjust to your sweetness level. This pie is also super made with Granny Smith APPLES! I had two pie crusts, so one of each it is!

(Recipe is for one pie)

1 9" GF Pie crust (or a nice home made paleo one)
7 Persimmons or 4 Granny Smith apples
1 Tbs. Sweetener of choice (I used Birch Xylotol today)
1 Tbs. Arrrowroot or Tapioca starch

Crumble:
1 cup of nut flour of choice (see my macadamia version here)
1 Tbs. Nut butter (I used almond butter)
1/8 cup Sweetener of choice
1/8 cup Walnut oil (or melted coconut, butter...)
1/2 tsp. Apple pie spice
1 pinch Sea salt
1 tsp. Vanilla

Parchment paper
Foil

Chop persimmons or apple into small chunks. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Fill your crust as high as you dare. I found this one to be the max! It was 5 apples. (That's why I suggested 4). Made a bit of a spill over in the oven while baking.

If you use a different fruit like cherries or peaches, just leave out the apple pie spice. Delicious!

Add 1 Tbs. of your sweetener of choice on top of the fruit.

And then add the arrowroot. This just makes the juice from the fruit thicken as it cooks.

Mix all the crumble toppings so that you get a nice mixture of dry and wet crumble. Place on top of pie. Patting it in...

Cover with parchment paper and then foil. I do this so that the foil doesn't touch the food. Aluminum is handy, but not healthy.

Bake at 350 for 1.5 hours covered.
Then 15 min uncovered.

Oh.... yeah! Try not to burn your tongue!

Paleo Peppermint Patties

10/27/2015

This recipe is for my friend Tony. He is a Standard American Eater who just recently found out about the benefits of coconut oil. He was a coconut hater previously. This is a good reminder that the quality of the food makes a difference. The reason he disliked coconut so much was due to the sweetened, preserved, dried, shredded coconut from childhood. Nothing like fresh young coconut, or Organic cold pressed Extra virgin Coconut oil. He's noticed his skin is softer after months of taking 2 tbs/day. I've done it before, but I don't care for a mouth full of oil, so I was inspired by the peppermint in the garden to make a much more fun version. This is great for the holidays or just anytime. I keep it ready for action for company or after-dinner mint.

1 cup Organic Extra virgin coconut oil
1/3 cup Honey (or other liquid sweetener you prefer)
4-5 drops of Stevia
1 tsp. Peppermint extract
Optional: 2-3 Tbs. fresh Peppermint

1-2 cups of Organic fair trade dark chocolate chips
Parchment paper
Tray
Mixing bowl
Small ice cream scoop or melon baller

In a small bowl, combine all but chocolate in a bowl, mixing with a spoon. If the oil is liquid, put it in the fridge for a while to help it become more solid.

Smash any clumps of coconut oil against side of the bowl until mixture is smooth.

Optionally, add some chopped fresh mint. This adds a nice color and taste.

Freeze mixture for a few minutes until it starts to harden, then remove from freezer.

Scoop out equal amounts of your oil mixture. You can use a small ice-creamscoop or melon baller. Scoop out onto parchment paper on a tray. Then freeze till hard (about 5 min).

Then press them down to flatten. Place back into the freezer.

Set up a double boiler. A plate onto of a pot with boiling water will do just fine. Just be mindful to just gently melt the chocolate. Do not over heat.

Once melted and smooth. Take off heat and let it cool down. If too hot, it will melt the oil and just make a mess when you dip the flattened patties into it.

Dip each one in the chocolate. covering each one evenly and completely.

Set back onto the parchment paper.

To set them up, place in the fridge or freezer.

I store them in the fridge because I live in a hot climate and don't want them to melt.

Optional methods:

Making cups:
Line with melted chocolate. Freeze
Add coconut mixture. Freeze
Add melted chocolate to top. Freeze

Making Layers:
Parchment paper
Chocolate.
Coconut mixture. Fridge
Chocolate.

Briciole

8/22/2015

Briciole is that dish that Marie makes Frank in "Everybody Loves Raymond." No wonder he falls in love with her and she gets jealous when Raymond's wife learns to cook it! If you don't know the episode I'm referring to, its worth a watch (below) for the fun factor.

Pronounced ("Bre jole" slang) ("Bri chi o lay" traditionally)

This is my simplified version. Use real cow dairy or dairy alternative. Either way its sure to please...

2 lbs. Frank Steak... I mean Flank!
1 cup GF bread crumbs
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbs. fresh Basil, minced
2 tbs. Olive oil
1/3 cup Parmisan, freshly grated or
1/3 cup grated mochi soaked in 2 tsp. ume vinegar
1/3 cup Provolone or
1/3 cup vegan cheese (like Daiya -made from Tapioca)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Favorite Maranara sauce (I used "White Linen" from Italy)

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Pound your steak on both sides till tender and thin.

Prepare your stuffing ingredients and mx in a bowl.

I used these bread crumbs because I don't like the ones with corn in them. Choose wisely.

Spread your stuffing mixture on top of your pounded steak.

From one of the thin ends start rolling the steak up. You can use twine to hold it shut, but I'm much to busy for all that. It works fine this way.

Place in a lined casserole with the finishing end down. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bake till browned. About 30 min.

Pour a generous amount of sauce over your browned roll and then cover with parchment paper and foil.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Slice into rounds and serve with something green!

Paleo Granny Crisp

11/3/2014

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Well the cool weather is finally here! and that makes me crave Apple everything! Summer is all about cherries and melons and nectarines... Fall is about Pumpkin and apples with cinnamon and spice! This apple crisp is tart and naturally sweet. No add sweetener except that lovely herb called stevia (which isn't a sweetener at all!). I feel so good with no sugar hangover from this version. Add a little sweet if you must, or challenge yourself to let the Ganny's shine!

5 Granny Smith Apples, chop
10 drops Stevia
12 Tbs. Grass Fed Butter (or coconut oil)
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
Optional: Honey or Date Syrup to taste (1-2 Tbs.?)

1 cup Walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup Coconut flour
1/4 cup Arrowroot or Tapioca Starch
1/4 cup Almond Flour (blanched or reg)
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 pinches of Sea Salt
1 tsp. Apple or Pumpkin Spice
Cinnamon

Parchment paper
Foil
Casserole dish

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Wash and chop your apples into small pieces. If you like them bigger that's fine, too! We are going to pre-bake them.

Gently melt your butter. Add the stevia and vanilla (and sweetener if you are using it).

Pour 4 Tbs. of the Butter mixture over the apples and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover with parchment paper and foil. Bake @ 350 degrees for 10-15min.

Finely chop your walnuts and gather all the dry ingredients.

Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and pour the rest of the butter mixture over it.

It should be a nice crumble (a little on the wet side -not super dry where you can still see white flour, no no!).

Take out the apples and cover with this crumble. Then replace the the parchment paper and foil and bake for an additional 30-35min. You should see bubbling apples.

Uncover and bake an additional 10-15min to brown the crisp.

I advise you to pour cold coconut milk over it so you don't burn your tongue. It's hard to wait to let it cool!

The good fats and low sugars make this a satisfying light breakfast idea, as well!

Enjoy...

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Marinated Olives

1/3/2014

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Family has come into town for the Holidays and we made some marinated olives together. Olives for friends and family has become a tradition, and Pappa D. has been asked so many times how he makes them, that we decided to make a big batch and write it down to share. Hope you love them as much as us. Spicy and tangy, they're perfect as an anti-pasta or snack. They take 2 weeks to marinate, but well worth the wait.

We made 10 bottles, but I this recipe for 2.

2 jars of 35 oz. Olives with pimentos (I recommend organic, but these were bought in bulk from Costco)
1/3 of an Onion
1 cup Pickled Jalapenos (or 1/4 cup fresh jalapenos)
8 cloves Garlic

2-4 tbs. Dijon Mustard (depending on the strength)
2/3 cup Lemon Juice
2/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2/3 cup White or Champagne Vinegar
1 cup Olive Oil
1 cup Avocado Oil

Open your jars and pour the olives through a strainer so you have empty bottles to work with.

Add 1/2 cup of jalapenos to each jar.

Then slice the onion and add 3-4 slices to each jar.

Press 4 cloves per jar. Then fill the jar half way with olives.

Prepare your marinade:
(This also makes a great salad dressing.)

Take 2-4 tbs. of Dijon. Dijons can vary in strength. If you use Grey Poupon use 4 tbs. If you use a strong one like the one in the picture, I suggest you use more like 2 tbs.

Whisk the lemon juice and mustard together. The citric acid helps hold the oil and vinegar together.

Then whisk in the vinegars and the oil.

Pour enough marinade in to cover the 1/2 filled jar and place the top back on.

Toss or shake the jar to mix the olives with the peppers and onions.

Pack the jar with olives back to the top.

Pour enough marinade to fill it all the way and replace the lid. Refrigerate for 2+ weeks.

If you like live pickles, you can leave them out of the fridge for 1-2 days with just cheese cloth over each jar. Then lid and refrigerate. Great gifts. We made 10 jars!

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Real Whipped Cream

1/2/2014

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I don't eat cow dairy but once a year on my pumpkin pie cuz I'm so sensitive to it, but boy does it feel satisfying on some deep level. This is for those special occasions when you want the real thing. It's not what you do occasionally that makes you what you are, it's what you do everyday, so enjoy!

Coconut Cream to come soon... In the lab as we speak!

2cups Organic Heavy Whipping Cream
1-3 drops Stevia
1 tsp. Vanilla
pinch of Sea Salt
Optional: 1 tbs. Coconut Sugar or other sweetener of choice

Electric or hand whisk.
Glass bowl -chilled in the freezer

NOTE about heavy cream products:

I've tried this recipe with 3 different companies.
Horizons Organic Pasturized Heavy Cream
Clover Organic Pasturized Heavy Cream
Raw Grass fed Heavy Cream in the photo

I wish I could say that I liked the raw grass fed one the best, but it made my stomach hurt. You have to try it for yourself to see what works for you, but here is a break down of the time it took to whip the cream:

Horizons took 10+ minutes. I actually almost gave up. Thinking "How did they ever invent whipped cream? If I had to do this by hand, I'd have given up by now!"

Clover took the least time, about 2 minutes and tasted and felt the best in my body.

The Raw Grass Fed one in the picture above took about 5 minutes and like I said, sadly didn't work for my body. Please try for yourself as this one is the best quality you can get. (unfortunately $9 for 12 oz., too!!!)

Place your bowl in the freezer for 5-10 min. to get it nice and cold.

Then pour your cream in and start-a-whippin'!

When the cream just begins to turn from liquid to beginning firm, then add your other ingredients and continue to whip. You're almost there...

Depending on how firm you like your whipped cream, stop when you reach that perfect place. It will hold in the fridge for 8-10 hours, but will start to separate a bit after that. I've heard you can freeze it to help it stay together, but it never lasts that long at my house!

A simple light dessert is just layering berries in the cream and topping with lemon zest or spices. Super Yummm!

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Raw Mint Macaroons

Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Pie

Monkey Bread

Grain Free Pizzelles

Persimmon Crumble Pie

Paleo Peppermint Patties

Optional methods:

Briciole

Paleo Granny Crisp

Marinated Olives

Real Whipped Cream

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