Baking extravaganza!

So one of birthday goals for this coming year was to learn how to bake. In the past, I've never liked baking because to me it's always been scientific with the measuring and not to mention, complicated. Let it be known that I HATE measuring. I never knew the Paleo diet would change my mind about baking, most importantly, I never knew it could be so easy! With all natural, simple ingredients, baking doesn't have to be hard. This weekend I went crazy with the baking and I love it!!!

This past week, I went crazy with new finds at Wholefoods.

Coconut butter. I had no idea this even existed until a few days ago. It's a lot like coconut oil when it hardens, but with coconut butter, it never melts until you heat it up purposely. I tried using it on my cake pops this past weekend, but I think I overheated it and it almost turned into burnt coconut flour. I'll have to practice  more with this one.

Coconut ice cream at Wholefoods. Whoa! Freaking delish! But I won't be needing to buy this anymore because I have discovered that I can make this all on my own. Amazing.

A couple weekends ago, I bought I cake pop maker at Ross. I really didn't know what to expect when I bought this little contraption. I found a good cake pop recipe online and attempted to master it. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much.

So my first attempt came out all right. Now it's time to dip them in chocolate.

Success! I was so proud that I did this all on my own that now I am excited to try another flavor this weekend! Pumpkin spice!

I also attempted to make coconut ice cream. Supposedly it took three ingredients to perfect this: vanilla extract, honey and canned coconut milk. Will it turn out? Keep in mind that I'm not using an ice cream maker. Pretty much it's freeze and blend.

Amazingness!!!! So guess what I am doing this weekend? Yup! Making more ice cream. I think I'll try my hand at strawberry. I can't believe how easy it was and not to mention, scrumptious and HEALTHY! Non-dairy! It's heaven.

Paleo Yam and Leek Soup

I love soups. I started converting all the non-Paleo soups recipes that I love into Paleo soups by switching out the heavy cream for coconut milk. One day I hope to write a cookbook dedicated just to Paleo soups!

4 Large White Yams, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups beef broth

1 can coconut milk

1./4 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon ghee butter

Extra-virgin olive oil

In a large pot over medium-high heat, add onions and garlic. Saute until the onions are tender.

Add leeks and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Add yams (as you can see, I don't really care about peeling my yams, but if you want to peel your yams first, it's no big deal. It just takes extra time.) beef broth and cumin. Mix well. Cover pot and let the yam cook until extremely soft, about 20 minutes.

When yams are tender, remove pot from heat. Stir in coconut milk. Use a hand blender to puree the soup mixture until smooth.

Serve soup with a drizzle of olive oil over the top

Paleo Sun-dried Tomato Frittata

Today is the 3rd anniversary of my father's death, so I thought I'd make something that Ihe would have really loved.

1 large zucchini, shredded
1 large onion, shredded
5 eggs
1 pound pancetta, cut into chunks 
1/2 jar sun-dried tomatoes, oil drained.
1 tomato, sliced
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

I actually used my Magic bullet for this recipe and it worked great! Add chopped zucchini and onion to your food processor and pulse until well shredded. Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium size bowl, add your shredded zucchini and onion mixture. Mix well.

Add eggs, sun-dried tomato, pancetta, sea-salt and pepper into the zucchini and onion mixture. Stir well.

Grease a large oven-safe skillet with olive oil or coconut oil. Add egg mixture and top with sliced tomatoes. Bake for 1 hour.

Slices will be thin. You can give yourself a thicker frittata by serving two slices per serving--one on top of the other.

Paleo Crockpot Asian-Style Pork Ribs

This weekend, I finally had time to test out my new crock pot! I've been waiting to do this forever, but to avoid an epic fail I decided to try my hand at an easy crock pot recipe. Originally, when I bought the pork ribs I thought this would be enough to feed me the entire week. Uh, wrong! Maybe like one meal at the most. I guess next time I will have to buy more ribs.

1 pound of pork ribs (or as many as you can fit into the crock pot)

4 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger

1/4 cup wheat-free, organic soy-sauce or a soy sauce substitute 

1 1/4 cup water

6 cloves of garlic, minced 

1-2 tablespoons of hot chili paste

1 bunch of green onions, diced

1/2 cup coconut oil

Start off by buying yourself a nice cut of organic-grass fed pork ribs.

In a small bowl, add onion, garlic, chili paste, coconut oil, soy sauce and ginger. Mix well.

Add 1 1/4 cup water to your crock pot. Place ribs in crock pot and pour sauce of the ribs. 

Set crock pot on low and allow to cook for 6-7 hours. You will know it's done when the meat falls off the bone.

Paleo Chinese Pork Fried Rice

It's hard to believe that I've been on the Paleo diet exactly one year. In one year, my eyes have been opened to many things, and let me just say that I'm never heading back that unhealthy road ever again. This lifestyle is for life. Healthy eating is not a trend.

This year in addition to my Instagram and Facebook recipe page, I have decided to start a blog which will add a little more depth to my recipes. I am also looking to take on baking....maybe try out a few paleo dessert recipes. I'm not a huge fan of sweets, but it's something to think about.

Anyhoo....I started the Paleo diet two days after my birthday last year. So this week I am celebrating a birthday and the one year anniversary of being on the paleo diet.

This year I received my very first crock pot and the Magic Bullet,  which I've been wanting for the last ten years.

This recipe will be featured in my cookbook coming in December!

Ingredients:

½ a large head of cauliflower, riced

½ pound boneless pork spare ribs, chopped into small pieces

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ginger powder

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups cole slaw mix

1 handful of bean sprouts

1 bunch of green onions, diced

1 onion, diced

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon hot chili paste

2 eggs

Start by ricing your cauliflower in the blender or food processor. Yes, I could have used my Magic bullet. I got home late last night and I really have to desire to take it out of the box and mess with it so the blender had to do. I still have to go out and get myself a real food processor.

Chop your pork into chunks.

 In a large pot over medium-high heat, add coconut oil, pork, chili powder and garlic. Stir well. Cook pork until browned, but not fully cooked.

Add fish sauce.

Add cauliflower, cole slaw, green onions, onions, and bean sprouts. Stir well and make sure everything is well combined. Let the mixture cook for about 10 minutes.

Lower heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until the cole slaw and cauliflower is soft and tender.

Turn heat back up to high. Drain out any excess liquid, if need be. You want this mixture is dry as possible.

Crack two eggs into the pot. Remove pot from heat and stir the eggs into the mixture until the eggs have incorporated into your “rice.”

Serve immediately.