Paleo Chinese Honey Chicken

So as my pregnancy progresses, my blog posts become less frequent. I'm 36 weeks today so you can imagine how unmotivated and tired I am. I can however say with the utmost confidence that a paleo pregnancy is the best pregnancy you are ever going to get! So now onward to the recipe. My hubby loves Chinese food and my boys enjoy it quite a bit too. We do allow the occasional gluten free splurge at Pei Wei, but I know that's not the best option. So here is another recipe to help soothe your Chinese take out cravings.




Paleo Chinese Honey Chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
Coconut oil
Salt & pepper

Sauce ingredients
3 tbsp sesame oil (or other nut oil)
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
9 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp coconut aminos
1/2 cup water
2 tsp arrowroot mixed with 1.5 tbsp water

In large skillet heat coconut oil. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside. Add sesame oil to skillet. Add ginger and garlic. Sauté 1-2 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients, except arrowroot mixture. Stir and bring to a boil. Add arrowroot mixture and cook until sauce begins to thicken. Add chicken to pan. Toss to coat and warm. Serve and enjoy!!

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Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yum. These little gems are addictive. They are so good warm and gooey from the oven. They store ok, but due to the high moisture content they get mushy. Still yummy, just a different texture. So you may want to halve the recipe and make it on two separate occasions. Now that I look at the recipe I think it may be Vegan too. Not my intention but hey, it works. :)




Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup maple sugar (if you use syrup you may have to adjust the amount of almond flour)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 cups almond flour
1.5 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2-3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (make sure it's dairy free)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl mash bananas until only small chunks remain. Add coconut oil (not melted) and maple sugar. Mix until well combined. Add vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Add almond flour, coconut flour and baking soda. Mix until fully combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips. Drop teaspoon size balls on to parchment lined cookie sheet (smoosh them down with the back of a spoon if desired). Bake for 15-18 minutes or until just turning golden brown. Allow to cool on sheets for 2-4 minutes then remove and cool on racks. Serve and enjoy!!


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Paleo Carrot Souffle

I'm always looking for new ways to enjoy veggies. Steamed veggies are so blah, so I needed to find more ideas. I had picked up a bag of carrots and decided I would try to make a soufflé from these carrots. (I used to get a corn soufflé at fresh market, it was heavenly). Well this recipe did not disappoint. It was so yummy that my hubby and I gobbled every last bite of it up. Next time I'll get my kids to try it!

Paleo Carrot Soufflé




1 lbs carrots, peeled and chunked (or baby carrots)
1/4 cup of ghee, coconut oil or grassfed butter (whatever fat suits your fancy)
1 egg
1/2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp maple sugar/syrup or honey (optional)
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil carrots for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Place carrots and all other ingredients in a food processor or blender and purée until smooth and well combined. Pour into a greased 1-1.5 quart casserole. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 and bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!

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Paleo Antipasto Meatloaf

My pregnant brain works in mysterious ways. Most days I don't crave anything, then a craving will hit big time. Salty delicious olives have been on the craving list frequently. I came up with the idea of making a meatloaf around olives and eventually the idea evolved into the delicious end product we had for dinner tonight! I highly recommend serving this with mashed faux-tatoes (posted recipe on November 13, 2010). It makes for a very home cooked old fashioned dinner. In this meatloaf there are some minced deli meats. Use a combination that sounds appealing to you. I used what was on hand, pepperoni and salami (not usually 100% paleo but I find some that are pretty darn close). I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much as we did!





Paleo Antipasto Meatloaf

2 eggs
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 can tomato paste
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup almond flour
2 tbsp roasted red pepper, minced
1/2 cup manzilla olives (green olives), sliced
7-9 oz cold cuts, minced (any typical Italian combo would do great)
2 lbs ground beef (we used bison which was fantastic)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl beat together eggs, balsamic, and tomato paste until smooth. Add seasonings and almond powder, mix until well combined. Add red peppers, olives and cold cuts and mix until combined. Add beef and thoroughly mix until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Dump meat mixture and form into loaf shape. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until done. Serve and enjoy!!!

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Paleo pumpkin spice donuts

While shopping at Kohls today I spotted this awesome little donut iron. It's a Babycakes Donut Maker and works much like a waffle iron. I was intrigued and with a 15% off coupon in my pocket I decided it was worth a try. My boys were so excited when they saw a donut maker. They begged me to make them some dessert with it. I decided to modify a pumpkin bar recipe I had tried from Elana's pantry earlier this week. The result was a moist cakey donut that my boys gobbled right up! As usual with my sweetener, I fill the measuring cup about 2/3 of the way then fill the remaining amount with water.




Paleo Pumpkin Spice Donuts

1/2 cup pumpkin purée (i used canned)
1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
2 eggs
1 cup almond flour
1 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

In food processor (or use electric mixer) blend pumpkin, maple and egg until completely combined. Add all remaining ingredients and blend until combined. Pour batter into greased hot donut maker and cook until ready light turns on. Remove with the special fork provided. Serve and enjoy!

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Paleo French Toast

French toast has always been one of my favorite breakfasts. I never really cared if it was sticks or slices, white, wheat or challah...I just loved the stuff!!! I had tried a recipe from my almond flour cookbook a while back, but I just wasn't a fan. The bread was kind of tangy. One night the idea for this recipe just came to me. Then all I needed was some energy to make it, which can be tough to come by in the third trimester. :)

The bread base is a modified version of Elana's pantry cinnamon bun muffins. I made it into a loaf instead, then allowed the slices to dry out overnight before making the French toast. There is some sweetener in the bread, it's not much, but I tend to water it down still (like fill a 1/2 cup measuring cup with 2/3 syrup, 1/3 water). It's not an exact science, but it's been working for me. Hope you enjoy my take on paleo French toast!

Paleo French Toast




Bread recipe
6 eggs
1/2 cup oil (I used almond)
1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. Add dry and mix until smooth. Grease 2 loaf pans with a heavy coat of coconut oil. Pour half of the batter in each pan. Sprinkle the top of loaves with cinnamon. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, and flip the loaf pans onto a cooling rack. Allow loaves to cool on the rack. For French toast slice the bread into 1/2 to 3/4 in thick slices and allow the slices to sit on a cooling rack over night, so that the bread becomes slightly stale.

French toast batter
3 eggs
1/3 cup coconut milk (full fat)
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
Coconut oil

Blend all of the batter ingredients until fully combined (I used a magic bullet blender). Pour into a dish or deep plate. Heat a large pan over medium heat and coat the bottom with coconut oil (the goal is to pan fry). Dip each slice of bread in the batter and place in the oil. Fry until golden brown then flip. Fry other side until golden brown. Continue with all slices of bread. Serve with your topping of choice and enjoy!!

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A super quick faux spaghetti

Tonight my kids insisted on eating dinner at home. We got home at 6pm then I got to cook a quick meal. By 645pm we were eating dinner so actual cook and prep time was about 30 minutes. Just be sure you have a really big skillet. The quick preparation of this meal was due to the food processor. It can still be made without one but it will just take longer. My boys gobbled this meal up. They never even questioned what the mystery noodles were.




Quick faux-ghetti

Olive oil
2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, minced
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 dried mint
4 summer squash, julienned or grated
1 can black olives (optional)

Heat large skillet over medium high heat. Swirl with olive oil. Add beef and onion, cook until beef is browned and just begins to dry. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasonings. Stir to combine. Add summer squash and stir to combine. Cook until squash begins to soften (add more salt and pepper if desired). Add olives and cook until olives are warmed. Serve and enjoy!


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