Blog Posts

Raw Nut Bars

4/3/2016

This is a great way to use up any extra raw crust when making tarts. They are a fun snack that you can make in a rainbow of flavors using dried fruit mixed with your choice of nuts and seeds. Adding things like cocoa powder or other nutritious powders to change the outcome. Have fun and make it just right for you!

Leftover Raw Tart Crust or start from scratch:
1 cup soft nut like walnuts, cashews, etc
1 cup hard nut like almonds
6-8 Dried fruit like Dates (Madjool is best) or any other you like
Sea Salt

Optional:
Vanilla or other extract
1 Tbs. cocoa powder or other nutritional powder you like
1 tsp. sweetener, to taste if needed (chocolate can be very bitter!)

Ok... Let's start with the quality of your dried fruit. Some can get mighty dry over time. Almost turning into sugar. If you have a really dry dried fruit, then you will need to pre-soak or hot soak them so they do what they are intended to do.

If they are plump, just use as many as you need to to make the bars sticky.

Soak your fruit over night if you have the time, or cut in half, take out seeds if they have them, and let soak 5-10 min in hot water.

Then drain and chop them into small pieces.

As stated above, Be creative. You don't have to use dates. It could be dried mango or berries...

What ever suits your fancy.

In a food processor, finely chop your nuts into a crunchy consistency. Then add vanilla, dried fruit and salt.

This is the stickiness you need. It should be able to hold together so you can roll it into a bar.

Add any protien powders, maca or cocoa to your mix. You may need additional sweeteners, as well, if using a powder that is bitter.

Here I am using cocoa powder in leftover crust from a tart.

Blend again, quickly to incorporate.

Take a handful of the mixture and roll into a bite sized piece.

Wrap in parchment paper, twisting the sides like a candy wrapper.

Store in the fridge.

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Lemon Berry Tart

4/3/2016

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This is such a refreshing spring or summer tart! Full of flavor with a zing of lemon and added locally grown fresh berries... When I was a little girl, for my birthday, I would usually be asked what kind of cake I wanted. Chocolate? or Vanilla? Strawberry or lemon was my choice! This tart brings both together magnificently. MMMMMMmmmmmmm! My clients like it so much, that I figured I better share so everyone can benefit. Happy Spring!

Crust:
1 cup Walnuts
1 cup Almonds
6-8 Dates (Madjool are best)
Pinch Salt
Dash Vanilla

Filling:
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1Tbs. Zest
6 Drops Stevia
1/4-1/2 cup butter or ghee
5 Large Pasture raised eggs
Pinch Salt
1/4-1/2 cup Wild Honey

Ok... Let's start with the quality of your dates. Some can get mighty dry over time. Almost turning into sugar. IF you have a dry date or use the other type of date other than Madjool, then you will need to pre-soak or hot soak your dates so they do what they are intended to do in this crust.

If they are plump, just use as many as you need to to make the crust sticky.

Soak dates over night if you have the time, or cut in half, take out seeds and let soak 5-10 min in hot water.

Then drain and chop them into small pieces.

In a food processor, finely chop your nuts into a crunchy consistency. Then add vanilla dates and salt.

This is the stickiness you need. It should be able to hold together when you pat it into a pie pan.

Pat it into a pie pan.

You can line it with parchment paper if you like to make it easy to remove the slices of pie later.

* If you have crust left over, you can do this with it!

Prepare all your ingredients.

Pour all into a pan and put on low heat.

Gently whisk or stir continuously until it thickens. This will take about 5-10 min. Be patient. It will happen. Just don't let it clump.

Whisk, whisk, wisk....

Pour the lemon mixture into your crust and let it cool a bit before placing in the fridge to set.

You can place berries in a beautiful formation all over the top now, or just put them on later as a garnish.

Oh yeah!

Happy Birthday to my little girl-self!

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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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Pitaya Smoothie

11/27/2015

Pitaya (also known as Dragon Fruit) is a low glycemic fruit with high fiber from Central America. I have a favorite smoothie at the local juice stop that I've been trying to replicate. It's been difficult because one of their main ingredients is passionfruit juice. Not easy to make or find. I substituted grape and lime. It's almost the same amount of wonderful! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Serves well as a smoothie or make a bowl with added fruit and nuts. ~Serves 1

Just love that Magenta color, don't you?

1 package 3.5oz Frozen Pitaya fruit
1/4 cup Organic frozen strawberries
1/4 cup Organic frozen pineapple (best if you let the fruit ripen yourself and then freeze to be sure its nice and sweet)
1/2 Juicy lime, juiced
1/2 cup Purple grape juice (or more as needed)
2 drops Stevia

Dragon fruit comes in many colors, but you can usually find it in a 4 pack of the purple 3.5oz bags in the freezer section of your local health food store.

Or get one fresh from the market, when in season.

Place all in a blender and blend smooth. Add a little more juice if needed to make it just the right consistency.

What a yummy snack or fun treat when friends come over!

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!

Zucchini Bird's Nests

8/22/2015

These are such a fun way to eat the zucchini that's exploding in the garden! You need a spiralizer, but who doesn't have one of those? Ha ha ha.. If you don't, they're a great addition to a grain free life and under $30.

You can try adding other veggies, too, that you might have left overs of. I've included a Gluten-free method below and a Grain-free one, as well. Enjoy!

3 Med. Zucchini (straight and fat is best)
Sea Salt
2 Pasture raised eggs
2/3 cup GF oat flour or
2 Tbs. Tapioca starch
2 Tbs. Coconut flour
4 Tbs. Almond Flour
High Temp Oil for frying (I used avocado)

Spiralize your squash on the small setting. It should equal around 8 cups of finished raw spaghetti.

Toss with several hefty pinches of sea salt. They will start to glisten as the liquid comes out.

Let it sit for 30min to and hour. The more liquid that comes out the better your nests will be so try for an hour.

After the liquid comes out, drain and press the squash to release any last bits out. You may be surprised how much you can still get out.

Toss with your eggs and flour. Mix well.

Ready your fry pan with high temp cooking oil like avocado (400 degree smoke temp).

Make little nests in the hot oil and fry till golden on each side. Makes 7-8 nests.

Grain-Free Crepes

8/5/2015

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Really? Crepes!!!!! Have I died and gone to France?

One of my fondest memories of my year in France was when we went to the creperie for dinner... Yes I said dinner. The French eat crepes with eggs and bacon, as well as chocolate and whip cream.
The crepes in the picture just made my week. I stuffed it with fresh coconut cream and sweet nectarines, topping it with a cherry sauce which were all fresh in season. Bon Apetite tous le monde!

1 Tbs. Arrowroot
2 Tbs. Coconut flour
4 Pasture raised eggs
1/2 cup nut milk, coconut water or just water
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 Tbs melted Coconut oil or GF Butter
3 drops Stevia
Pinch Sea salt
Grass fed Butter for frying

For the sweet version in the picture:
Jam or blended fresh fruit
Coconut Cream click here
Sweet fruit like nectarines, pineapple, banana, berries...

Add all your ingredients for the batter in a bowl and whisk together.

Add your butter or oil to the pan and set heat to med high. The first one is always a test for the right temp, so don't worry if it's not perfect.

Add batter and cook until one side is golden brown and then flip to do the other side.

Make plenty to save for later. They make a nice grab and go snack.

Add jam and fresh coconut cream and your favorite fruit inside or both inside and out!

***If you're in a hurry and don't mind a little sugar, you can purchase coconut whipped cream now at the local health food store.