Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

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Bite size goodies are perfect for the holidays…pop one in your mouth and move on to the next yummy thing! I always want to try everything…but I don’t necessarily want a piece of every single pie! So, this is my compromise.

Paleo Cookie Dough Truffles

Ingredients for dough balls:

  • 2 cups almond flour
  • ¼ cup grassfed butter, softened (or coconut oil)
  • 3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup mini enjoy life chocolate chips

Ingredients for coating:

  • dark chocolate

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond meal, salt and cinnamon then add the butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix well.
Fold in the chocolate chips, then drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with a Silpat, or parchment paper.
Put in the freezer so they don’t melt when you dip them in chocolate.
After 30 minutes in the freezer, melt 3/4 bar of dark chocolate or melt dark chocolate chips.
Roll the frozen dough balls in the chocolate and put back on the lined baking sheet. Put them in the freezer to set! I sprinkled mine with a little course salt, too. ;)

CSA Week 22! My Trusty Chili Recipe

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chili

Week 22 Bounty: (The Season comes to an end….)

  • 5 leeks
  • 1 bunch thyme
  • bag of sweet potatoes
  • bag of salad mix
  • bag of Swiss Chard
  • 1 bunch of kale

Paleo Chili

  • 2-3 slices uncooked bacon, chopped (use pastured from Hopeful Farms!)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2lbs ground meat (make it grassfed…I’ve used everything from beef to turkey)
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 1/2-2 cups broth or water (I always use homemade chicken stock)
  • 1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes w/liquid (I get to use those I froze from the CSA this year!)
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg’s)
  • 1-2 carrots, diced (I often sub bell pepper)
  • Optional: some chopped jalapeno if you like it spicy!

Instructions:

In a dutch oven (or large saucepan), cook bacon over medium-low heat until brown and some fat has rendered.  (This is where I add the jalapeno if I’m using it)

Add chopped onion to the pan and stir into bacon until the onion is semi-translucent.  Then add the garlic, and cook for a few more minutes.

Add ground meat and cook until browned. (If you use grassfed or lean meat, you should be golden, but if you use conventional meat, you may have to drain some fat here)

Add spices, broth, tomatoes, and carrots/peppers and stir well.  Cover and simmer over low heat for one hour.  I put that in bold because while the recipe is simple, give yourself time…don’t start it when you are starving!  Stir about every 20 min to keep it from sticking.

Add vinegar and cocoa powder and stir well.  Simmer uncovered for another 20 min.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I often top this chili with fresh avocado, or jalapenos that I have pickled from my summer harvest, or homemade cream fraiche for those enjoying raw, grassfed dairy, or fresh cilantro in the summer.  Possibilities are endless.

One good thing about this recipe, besides how amazing it tastes, is that it makes a ton (leftovers, check).  If you have a big family, double it!  Also, it is a one pot wonder, so less dishes (easy clean up, check).

Paleo Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

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apple cinnamon pancakes
Another apple recipe!  I know.  When you have a lot of them, you start to get innovative!  Apple everything!

My favorite apple recipes include:

Paleo Apple Crisp

Waldorf Tuna Salad

Butternut Squash Soup

Apple Cider Cocktail (that recipe is coming!  soon!!!)

Apple Cider Vinaigrette (you can use this for salad or as a ham marinade!)

…and now Apple Cinnamon Pancakes!

Paleo Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup tapioca flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • splash of apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup chopped apples (or apple scraps from juicing them for the cider)
  • Optional: sprinkle crumbled pecans on top before flipping. MMMMM.

Directions:

Put all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine. Add in the eggs and begin to make a paste-like dough. Add the vanilla. Add the apple cider vinegar and the cider. Mix until well incorporated. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side in coconut oil over medium/high heat.

Paleo Apple Crisp

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It’s apple time! I made this a long time ago and continue to make it “as is” because it’s so good!!

It’s time to go apple U-Pick!  Make sure they are organic because apples are part of the dirty dozen, meaning they are heavily sprayed with chemicals. ;(  I like the u-pick location: Earth First Farms!

Paleo Apple Crisp:

  • 4-5 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp arrowroot powder

Topping:

  • half stick of butter (or 1/4 cup coconut oil)
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
  • 1 Tbsp of apple pie or pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour

Directions:

Mix the filling ingredients together until coated and put in an 8×8 or 9×13 depending on how thick you want it.  Crumble the topping ingredients together and cover the filling.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  Turn the oven to  broil and brown the topping  for about 3 minutes!

Lurong: 1/4 of the entire thing would be your sugar allotment for the day.

CSA Week 19: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad w/Apple Cider Vinaigrette

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butternut salad
Week 19 Bounty:

  • 1 bunch radishes (recipe from 2013)
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 bag salad mix
  • celery
  • 3 eggplants (I could have chosen bell peppers but I have tons of those in my own garden!)
  • 1 bunch swiss chard

Today’s recipe was a variation on Ina Garten’s recipe that was on tv while I was home for lunch the other day. I couldn’t resist the play with all the fall flavors!

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with an Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

  • 1 butternut squash, peeled and seeded, cubed into 3/4 inch pieces
  • 1 Tbsp Maple syrup
  • Coconut oil or bacon grease
  • Chopped kale
  • 1/2 cup walnuts (toasting is optional)
  • 3 tbsp. dried cranberries (optional)
  • Vinaigrette:
  • 3/4 cup apple cider (or apple juice)
  • 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp minced shallots
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Place your cubed butternut onto a sheet pan and toss with your maple syrup and oil. Roast for 15-20 minutes, turning once. (They will be fork tender when done). While the butternut squash is roasting, in a saucepan, bring the apple cider, vinegar, and shallots to a simmer over medium high heat. Let simmer for about 8 minutes until the liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Take off the heat and whisk in the mustard and olive oil. Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste. Get your kale and walnuts in a serving bowl, place your butternut squash over it and pour the vinaigrette over in whatever amount you appreciate for your salads. (I don’t like a ton of dressing, but this one was so good!)

*you could easily add a protein on the side or on top! Experiment!

CSA Week 18: Butternut Squash Lasagna

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butternut lasagna

Week 18 bounty:

  • 1 leek
  • 3 bell peppers
  • 4 habaneros
  • bag of potatoes
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1 bag of salad mix
  • 1 eggplant

Butternut Lasagna

  • 1 butternut squash, peeled (just use the neck), cut into slices
  • 1 lb seasoned sausage
  • 2 cups tomato sauce
  • parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown your meat in a skillet to get some caramelization on the meat (this is important so don’t stir too much! let it brown!). Then add tomato sauce to cover the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Lay out a layer of butternut squash sheets. Pour over more sauce and sprinkle meat over that layer. Keep repeating until you have used all your squash, meat and sauce. Put your dish in the over, covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 10-15 minutes until squash is fork tender.

Pumpkin Mousse Pie

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pumpkin mousse pie
Let the pumpkin recipes begin. Pumpkin spice may be one of my favorite things about fall. If you try it in summer, it’s just not the same! So, I have been working on alternatives to pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake. I love cheesecake…but don’t always want to make the splurge on the cream cheese from an unhealthy cow. ;( I am not a big fan of the texture of pumpkin pie. So, if pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake had a baby, it would be pumpkin mousse pie!
Remember how I told you about my chocolate mousse pie? Well it’s amazing and so easy that I couldn’t resist the idea of switching up flavors. Once again, this is no bake. You need a kitchen aid mixer. If you freeze it, it is like ice cream cake. K? Good.

Pumpkin Mousse Pie

Crust:

  • 24 dates
  • 1/2 cup pecans
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • pinch of salt

Filling:

  • 2 1/2 sticks grassfed butter (at room temp)
  • 3/4 cup coconut sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs (at room temp)

Instructions:

Run your sugar through the food processor just to make sure it’s fairly fine and not chunky. Place the butter and sugar in the mixer on high with the paddle attachment for 1 1/2 minutes until fluffy and incorporated. Add the vanilla and pumpkin until incorporated. Put the whisk attachment on and turn the mixer to 6-7 speed and add an egg. Wait 5 minutes before adding the next egg.
While the egg is whisking for 5 minutes, put all your dates and nuts in the food processor and process until you get a mealy texture that you can press into the bottom of a pie pan. Put the larabar-esque crust into the pie pan and press down until the bottom is covered. Place in the fridge.
Now add the 2nd egg, and wait another 5 minutes.
During those 5 minutes, start your dishes clean up.
Now add the 3rd egg, and wait another 5 minutes.
Keep doing dishes.
Now add your 4th egg, and let it whisk for another 5 minutes.
Fold laundry.
Once the last egg is done whisking, Pour the mousse filling over the pie crust and put in the fridge for a few hours before serving. Done!

CSA Week 14: Tomato Sauce for the Freezer

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tomato sauce

CSA Week 14 Bounty:

  • Tomatoes (about 3 lb)
  • 4 Sweet peppers
  • 3 Hot peppers
  • 1 Melon
  • bag o’ green beans
  • Swiss chard
  • 1 bunch Scallions
  • 1 bunch Kale

It’s time to start cooking tomatoes into sauce that I can just pour into a dish later in the year. I don’t like tomatoes straight up, so making sauce and freezing it is a perfect way to use them. Then I don’t have to worry about chemicals and preservatives in cans.

Tomato Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup EVOO
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 hot pepper (optional)
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 lbs tomatoes, peeled
  • 8 basil leaves
  • 2 bay leaves

In a dutch oven, heat oil to medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add celery, carrot, and hot pepper with salt and pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, bay leaves and simmer covered on low for about an hour until thick. Remove bay leaves and taste. If it tastes too acidic, add a tbsp of butter until it cuts it. Pulse with a hand blender. Let it cool and freeze! It should give you about 6 cups of sauce.

Chocolate Mousse Pie (No Bake)

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Let me start with the fact that I have been holding onto publishing this recipe for months now! I only like to post things that A. I think taste amazing, and B. I know other people will be able to recreate with the same success. I have made this pie multiple times now to make sure I posted everything “just right” and that is why I haven’t posted a perfected cinnamon roll recipe (yet!). I can only keep up with so many sweets, you guys!

I love this pie for several reasons.
1. It’s no bake. This means no oven heat in the summer.
2. It’s got lots of butter…aka healthy fat.
3. It’s easy, easy, easy. (if you have a kitchen aid mixer)
4. Because of the timing of instructions, it gives me time to do dishes so there’s no clean up after!
5. It freezes well and tastes like ice cream cake if you want to eat it frozen.
6. You could really change it up (especially the crust) to whatever is in your cupboard.

So, warning..DO NOT MAKE THIS IF YOU DON’T HAVE A KITCHEN AID MIXER!
Get out your 4 eggs and 2 sticks of butter well in advance so everything is the same temperature.

No Bake Chocolate Silk Pie (Paleo)

Crust ingredients:

  • 24 dates
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 1/2 cup pecans

Pie ingredients:

  • 4 eggs, room temp
  • 2 sticks butter, room temp
  • 3/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 Lindt 90% dark chocolate bar (or 3.5-4oz dark chocolate), melted

Instructions:

Run your sugar through the food processor just to make sure it’s fairly fine and not chunky. Place the butter and sugar in the mixer on high with the whisk attachment for 1 1/2 minutes until fluffy and incorporated. While that is fluffing, melt your chocolate. Add the melted chocolate into the mixer. Follow with adding the vanilla. Turn the mixer to 6-7 speed and add an egg. Wait 5 minutes before adding the next egg.

While the egg is whisking for 5 minutes, put all your dates and nuts in the food processor and process until you get a mealy texture that you can press into the bottom of a pie pan. Put the larabar-esque crust into the pie pan and press down until the bottom is covered. Place in the fridge.
Now add the 2nd egg, and wait another 5 minutes.
During those 5 minutes, start your dishes clean up.
Now add the 3rd egg, and wait another 5 minutes.
Keep doing dishes.
Now add your 4th egg, and let it whisk for another 5 minutes.
Fold laundry.
Once the last egg is done whisking, Pour the mousse filling over the pie crust and put in the fridge for a few hours before serving. Done!

Notes: I have tried making this with twice the amount of sugar, and if you are “paleo,” don’t do it. It was so sweet and I could barely stand it! Although, that will make it a huge success with people that are not used to eating super healthy. I have done it with organic white sugar and coconut sugar. Coconut sugar gives the sweetness more depth, white is more sweet heavy.

I tried a different flavor (which I won’t reveal until I perfect it), and wasn’t sure if the texture was different because I didn’t have my butter and eggs at room temp equally. So, don’t try to make it without both being room temp.

I have made different crusts every time. You could bake a paleo pie crust if you wanted, but I like the no bake option. Use dates and whatever nuts you have. Feel free to add spices. In one of the crusts I used some coconut oil to give it a different flavor. All have been good. You can’t go wrong.

Paleo Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

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Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble - 1
I am counting the days until the organic blueberry farm opens; however, I am not going to let that overlook strawberry season! The other day while I was at Martin’s, I noticed their organic strawberries were 2/$5! That’s an amazing price and that’s when you stock up. I had some rhubarb in the freezer from a while back when I was feeling adventurous and never really did anything with it. You see strawberries and rhubarb together all the time, so I decided to take my blueberry cobbler recipe and make it strawberry rhubarb. You really can’t go wrong with any fruit in this situation and what an awesome way to enjoy seasonal, fresh produce!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

  • 3 cups of strawberries and rhubarb chunks (or enough to cover the bottom of your cast iron skillet)
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 Tbsp arrowroot powder
  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3/4 Tbsp cinnamon

Note: I thawed and drained my frozen rhubarb.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a cast iron skillet, fill the bottom of the pan with fruit. Depending on the skillet, you may have to use 4 cups. Just make sure you fill the bottom. Pour in the maple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Fold in the arrowroot powder until you can’t see white anymore. (This thickens the sauce that the berries make as it cools….so good). In a bowl, use a fork to crumble together the almond flour, cinnamon, and butter. Sprinkle over the top of the berries, drizzle the top with maple syrup and put in the oven for 30 mins. Turn the oven to low broil and cook another 3 minutes or until the top of the almond flour starts to brown. Watch it carefully! No one wants burnt cobbler! Get it out, let it cool.