Paleo Chocolate Cake

Do you know how you can tell if a "specialty diet" cake is good?  Take it to the superbowl party full of wheat eaters and look to see half eaten cupcakes laying around.  There were none.  Maybe they were too drunk to tell if the cupcake was good or not?  LOL.  No... Try the cupcake.  It is good.  I promise.

1/3 cup Coconut Flour
1/3 cup Almond Flour (Honeyville)
1/3 cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/4 cup Arrowroot Starch
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt

4 Eggs
1/3 cup Honey
1/3 cup Coconut Oil, melted (or butter,softened)
2/3 cup Almond Milk
1/4 cup Sour Cream
1 tablespoon Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Combine dry ingredinets and mix well. 
• Add in wet ingreidnets and fully combine.
• Add 1/3rd cup into regular sized muffin papers.
• Bake at 350 for 20 to 22 minutes.

 

 

Frosting

Modified from a recipe found at Elana's Pantry

 

1 cup Dark Chocolate chips

1/2 cup Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons Honey

2 Tablespoons Coconut Nectar Sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8th teaspoon Salt

 

Melt, Chill, Whip

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The Best Homemade Low Carb Caesar Salad Dressing you will ever taste!

Here ya go, the cheat version of the classic favorite.  If I had started with Raw egg and oil, then I would not have eaten it.  LOL.  Dukes mayo is low carb so using it makes this diet friendly!

2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 teaspoon Anchovy Paste
2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Horseradish Mustard
1 cup Mayonnaise (I am using Dukes because it is low carb)
    (make your own mayo to make it paleo)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. 
• Add the mayonnaise, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper and whisk until well combined. 
• Taste and adjust to your liking.

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Simple Mayonnaise Cole Slaw

We are a ridiculously simple mayonnaise type cole slaw kinda family.  SOMEBODY in our Church makes an awesome vinegar based cole slaw and some day I hope to get a hold of that recipe.  I always hated vinegar based cole slaw but that is until this church dish.  It even includes green peppers but it is sliced so thin you really wont mind.  Anyway, I digress.......at home we make this recipe.  It is so simple and always well received to the point that if its store bought the comment is, "that junk mommy bought".  LOL.  Anytime I can get kids to eat raw cabbage, is a good thing.

1/2 of a small head of cabbage, quartered and sliced very thin
1 cup of Mayonnaise (See Notes)
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Table Blend

• Combine all ingredients in a large enough bowl and throughly coat to combine.  
• Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to marinade.
• Serve cold and enjoy!

Mayonnaise:

• Dukes Mayonnaise is a zero carb mayonnaise.  It is made with Soybean oil though which is NOT paleo.  
• You can quickly and easily make it Paleo by making your own Hellmans Mayonnaise with your stick blender and the cup it comes with 6 simple ingredients.  Click HERE to be directed to the recipe. 

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Paleo Pumpkin Pie Recipe

For Pumpkin Week on the Gluten Free Menu Swap I whipped up a pumpkin pie that is suitable to our new diet!  I just used my old recipe and swapped out the questionable ingredients.  My picky children especially liked the crust.  Gluten free crust is never going to be quite the same as the crusts we enjoyed as wheat eaters.  This nut crust, though, is so good in its own right.  The flakiness is being replaced by the tad crunch of the tiny nut bits.  We think it is a nice switch-off.

Crust
1 cup Raw Walnuts
1 cup Raw Pecans
1/2 cup Raw Cashews
4 Tablespoons Grass Fed Butter
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Filling
1 pie crust (above)

1 can of Pumpkin (or 2 cups fresh)
2/3's cup Granulated Coconut Sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Cloves
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Tablespoon Arrowroot Powder

3 eggs well beaten 

3/4 cup Almond Milk 

1 cup Coconut Milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Puree nuts in food processor until just about butter.
• Add butter and salt and fully combine.
• Press crust into an 8 inch pie plate.
• Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.  Careful not to over brown.
• Take out of oven and set aside to cool while you make the filling.

Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees.

• Combine pumpkin, sugar and the next 4 ingredients in your stand mixer with whip attachment. Beat well. 
• Add in milk and eggs. Beat until combined well. 
• Pour into an 8 inch pie crust.
• Bake at 325 degrees for one hour

Other great Paleo Pumpkin Pie Recipes on the Web:

Everyday Paleo's Pumpkin Pie Video
Mark's Daily Apple Ultimate Walnut Pie Crust

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Paleo Custard Ice Cream Base

Shall I call this Paleo?  Technically it is NOT paleo with sweetener in it.  I add sweetener for my children because......well.....lets just say that I am again imposing my ideas of childhood on them!!!  What is a childhood without sweets?  So I like to add 2 to 3 tablespoons of some kind of sweetener to any of my desserts just for my kids!  I have grown so far from tasting and enjoying sweet foods that I find the taste of sugar overpowering beyond 3 tablespoons.

First, a little history.  My daughter has radical reactions to wheat,  not only Celiac but hives like a full blown allergy. Don't even let her breath next to wheat or she will get red circles under her eyes and gut issues exactly an hour later. For the most part this does not affect ice cream.  My son, however, is the silent sufferer. He has the just-mild-enough-to-not-have-radical-reactions sort of intolerances and allergies.  He suffers with a mild gut pain that builds over time and can suffer for 2 days to a week once the issue has reached its height.  But, immediately after taking in a toxin-to-him, he is fine. His issues are intolerances to Wheat and Casein but RAST tested mildly allergic to beef, corn and shellfish as a baby.  Keeping him away from beef and shellfish were easy.  The corn, however, was not so easy.  I am afraid I did not know enough about corn and its use as a sweetener back then.  He has outgrown the beef and shellfish allergy but now his allergy to corn is worse than ever.  He would literally rather starve then to eat a corn related product and suffer.

So ice cream...... lots of it is sweetened with corn syrup!  Not to mention that its main ingredient is dairy,  LOL.  So I have been tinkering with various substitutes lately.  I want something that suits our Paleo lifestyle while addressing our various other issues.  So first I start with these recipes:

3 Vegan Almond Milk recipes using Banana from Bay Area Bites

While I adored the banana ice cream the kids were offput by the underlying banana taste.  See....I close my eyes and think of the chocolate covered bananas I enjoyed as a kid.  Maybe my kids would enjoy these recipes better once I mastered a more exact replacement for the ice creams they liked from the store.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream recipe using strictly coconut milk

I thought the high fat content of the pure coconut milk was odd.  The ice cream sort of coated the tongue sort of like a heavy cream ice cream would.  So I mixed them.  The end result I really enjoyed the texture of.  I am re-introducing the egg as a thickener because while we have to eliminate a lot of items in our house, eggs were NOT one of them.  THIS is the recipe that works for us.  Best yet, its a base.  Use it to create your own master piece!!!

1 1/2 cups Almond Milk (unflavored or home made)
1 cup of Coconut Milk (equal parts cream/milk)
3 Tablespoons of Raw Honey (or Agave which is not paleo)
3 egg Yolks

• Heat over medium low in a saucepan both milk products and honey until coconut cream and honey are both dissolved and fully incorporated. Mixture is hot but not boiling.
• Place egg yolks in a bowl and whisk.  
• While whisking, slowly add a ladle full of hot milk into egg and continue to whisk.
• Slowly add egg mixture into hot milk mixture in sauce pan, whisking constantly.
• Mixture will slightly thicken and coat the back of your spoon (about 5 minutes).  Using a candy thermometer make sure your custard reaches 160 degrees!!!
• Turn heat off and allow to cool.  A sink with cold water half way up sauce pan will quicken the process if need be.  Just make sure to stir.  
• Place covered in fridge until ready to use.  If you have a fine mesh strainer, pour mixture through it and into ice cream makers bowl.
• Operate machine according to your manufacturer's instructions.
• Enjoy!

Add vanilla bean, coco powder, nuts, fruits.....whatever suits you!! 

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Avocado Chicken Salad

The hardest thing about the Paleo Diet (in my books) is the elimination of dairy. I really missed the creamy texture if cheese.  That is until I discovered my love of Avocados!  They have all the rich fatty creaminess I missed.  I started adding avocado to every salad I ate.  It's like pure creamy heaven.  What I love to do is use Avocado anywhere I would like to use creamy cheese,  my first stop was Mayo.  While I do make my own Paleo Mayo, its time consuming and I won't use it once its stored due to it having raw eggs. I don't need a fancy recipe to use Avocados either. I will dice it and add it to just about anything.  Dishes like Taco's and Chili now must have small diced avocado on top instead of the traditional cheese.

Where am I going with sharing all of this? Avocados from Mexico’s Website, of course! Because of my love of Avocado's and the fact that this blog simply must feature everything I personally love, we have partnered with Avocados From Mexico.  If you want more Avocado recipe inspiration than you simply must  visit their “Recipes from Avocado Lovers” section.

The folks at Avocados From Mexico have just launched a new recipes section on their site "Recipes From Avocado Lovers" to give foodies who love avocados, the opportunity to upload their favorite avocado recipes, download ringtones, wallpapers and other fun items to show their avocado love and discover other fan favorite avocado recipes. Do you love avocados? Then you will love the new Avocados From Mexico recipe website "Recipes From Avocado Lovers", where you can submit your favorite avocado recipes and share you avodao love with with other foodies like you.

Are you interested in seeing what my all time favorite thing to do with avocado's is?

There it is, Avocado Chicken Salad.  

The prep is the biggest part of this dish.

2 cups of diced up cooked Chicken (using leftovers is a great idea)
1 small (1/4 cup) Onion, finely diced sweet or red
4 strips of Bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 Avocado, half diced, half sliced
2 Tablespoons Mayo (Dukes has no sugar for low carbers but is not Paleo)
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1 /2 teaspoon Onion Powder, Salt, Pepper & Lemon Juice
Romain Lettuce, ripped into bite sized pieces

• Place chicken, onion and bacon into small mixing bowl.
• On a clean cutting board, mash with fork or the back of a spoon the diced avocado with mayo, garlic, spices and Lemon Juice until it is fully incorporated and is creamy.
• Fold dressing into the small bowl of chicken until fully combined.
• Serve a heaping cup of chicken salad over top of Lettuce and top Avocado slices.
• Serves 2-3.
• Enjoy!

Looking for more recipes using Avocado's? Check out the new recipes section “Recipes from Avocado Lovers” on Avocados from Mexico’s Website

This sponsorship is brought to you by Avocados From Mexico who 

we have partnered with for this promotion.

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