Paleo Sweet

Paleo Bread! (grain free, gluten free, dairy free, drug free, smoke free) Have a sandwich to celebrate!

I’ve just made the perfect cup of tea. Exactly the right ratio of tea, to honey, to raw milk. I am diggin it. I’m also about to share the perfect recipe for Paleo Bread. So it just makes for a perfect Friday night really. If you’re a nerd like me.

I was given a good paleo bread recipe, which for some reason just didn’t work as well when I doubled it. I usually make one loaf a week, so over the last few months, I’ve been tweaking, and perfecting. You know I don’t like to fluff around too much in the preamble, so here it goes! (trumpet sounds…)

Paleo Bread!

INGREDIENTS:

2 c almond meal
1 c tapioca or arrowroot
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
seeds of choice in the amount of your choosing (I use poppy seeds, linseed, pumpkin seeds, sprinkled in a loving fashion throughout the mixture, so that the amount looks right)
5 eggs
2 tblsp apple cider vinegar

METHOD

The best part about this bread, is that it requires no kneading, preparation or fluffing around. You put all those things in a bowl, mix them up and you’re done! Put it into a greased loaf tin, cook for around 20 – 25 mins at 180 degrees celcius, or until firm and brown on top.

EATING SUGGESTIONS

It’s really good when it’s warm out of the oven. With butter.

We like to have sandwiches for the first day or two, but it’s pretty good toasted with vegemite or jam, or under eggs and bacon and veges and home made relish. (That kind of meal will see you through til dinner time!)

If you’re a cheesey paleo person, make a ham off the bone, cheese and organic tomato toasty. Mmm.

My favourite discovery about this bread has been Paleo French Toast! This is a breakfast phenomenon in my house. I’ve finally got rid of the weetbix, and the kids are loving this, with a little ramekin of coconut cream for dipping. (Recipe to come.)

My perfect cup of tea has finished 😦

Thus, I must go.

Apple & Ginger Granola

I haven’t had a lot of time lately for posting things but this needs to be posted. I’ve been flat out with study, and being mum and wife. My husband and I had our 5 year wedding anniversary, he surprised me with a weekend away. All three Lord of the Rings…extended versions of course, wine, massage, sitting down for extended periods of time…BLISS! A mini retreat from our hectic but loveable life.

I have been wanting to experiment with some paleo granola as an another alternative to eggs in the morning. I have best intentions to cook breakfasts, but its just too hard most of the time. Some mornings work better than others, but we need some good healthy nutrition laden alternatives for breakfast. My other alternative is this: Sweet pumpkin breakfast frittata. Which is also delicious and easy.

I should mention this… If you are after precision cooking, this isn’t really the place to be…I rarely make anything the same twice, but this is a way for me to try and document some of my experiments. My cooking and sharing of recipes reflects my life desire to redesign, reconfigure, change things up, and be creative. I want people to take essence of my recipes and find how they work best for them. I like it when people can work things out for themselves, and find happiness in doing so!

So without further ado…This recipe makes a pretty big batch, and I didn’t really measure my things, this is an estimate of what went into it 🙂

Apple & Ginger Granola

500g nuts – I used a mixed bag of brasil, macadamia, hazelnut, almonds, cashews
about a cup of chopped dried apple
30g crystalised ginger (this depends how spiced you’d like it, just put in what you’d like)
handfuls of sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pepitas
about a cup of sultanas
3/4 c dessicated coconut
1/2 c organic coconut oil
1/2 c honey
1 tsp himalayan salt
sprinklings of mixed spice (cinnamon, nutmeg)

Put half of your nuts, crystalised ginger, and apple in the food processor. Blitz it all up until its somewhere between finely and roughly chopped. Pour the mixture out onto an oven tray. (Make sure your tray has sides on it. Makes it easier for stirring it.)

Put in the remainder of your nuts (you can either chop them roughly by hand, or leave them whole) and sultanas. Sprinkle on your seeds, coconut, mixed spice, and salt.

Melt your coconut oil and honey in a small pot, and pour all over the mixture, stir it around and make sure everything is coated.

Cook in a moderate oven for about 15 mins, stirring 2 – 3 times, or until you see a bit of toasty colour.

The idea is to get some varied texture with the different sizes of nuts and fruit, and the salt is actually what makes this so delicious. The sweetness of the coconut and honey offset with that saltiness is soooo good. Its like healthy salted caramel flavour. I keep this in a big container in the fridge, and eat for breakfast or just a snack. YUM. Enjoy!

Sweet Pumpkin Breakfast Frittata

This. This is probably the best recipe I’ve come up with.
I have to give credit for the original recipe inspiration thank you so much, foodie and the family but I’ve made some modifications…you need to give this a try. Especially if you need brekkie on the go.

Sweet pumpkin breakfast frittata

7 eggs
1 apple grated
2 ripe bananas
1/4 pumpkin roasted in coconut oil – chopped quite small should just take 20mins
1 tin coconut cream – if there is any water in your tin, leave it out. Just get that cream in there. Eg, my tin says its 75% coconut cream.
Splash of Maple syrup (optional)
Vanilla
Cinnamon & spices
2 tbsp coconut flour right at the end – i found this helps keep it together

Blend all ingredients except the apple in a food processor, and pour into a baking dish greased with coconut oil. Sprinkle grated apple on top. And then the crunchy almond topping. (See below). Bake for about 25-30 mins at 180 degrees.

Crunchy almond topping:
1 c almonds
Coconut oil
Splash of maple syrup

Chop up the almonds roughly, heat a pan nice and hot then put in oil
. put the almonds in and be sure to keep them moving so they don’t burn, this only takes a couple of minutes. Once they’re nice and toasty, splash some maple syrup over and stir around, it will sizzle and get all gooey. Sprinkle this on the bake once cooled, and cook the whole thing at 180/350 for about half an hour.

Optional time saving extras… Although this recipe is so quick!

Just throw the raw almonds in on top, so you don’t have to candy them..

Throw in a handful of sultanas as well!

You can eat this warm, or slice it up and put it in refrigerator for breakfast for the week.

Warning: it’s very delicious, but very filling! I learnt that the hard way 🙂

Chocolate cashew brownies – paleo & sugar free style!

I always need to have something sweet in the fridge. Life is no fun without treats! I am growing less fond of traditional sweetness, and rather enjoying the healthier ways of sugar free.

This is a bit experimental, surprise surprise, but I based this one around my other recipe for date, banana and almond slice. Again, quick and easy is my key in the kitchen at the moment, this definitely fits that category!

Paleo chocolate cashew brownies

2 c almond meal
1/2 c desiccated coconut
3/4 c sultanas
3/4 c chopped cashews
1/2 c cocoa
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas
3/4 c coconut oil
Vanilla
Honey

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

All wet ingredients go in a different bowl and mix with a beater until combined and a little fluffy.

Pour wet into dry, mix until just combined, pour in a tray and cook for about 20mins at 180degrees. Or 350 F for you folk in other lands.

They did come out a little bit crumbly, and I think that some yummy frosting would go on them very nicely. They are much better in the fridge, cold.

I’d also like to try putting fresh berries in..yummmmm! That might be more of a pudding…hmm stay tuned on that one!

Here’s a couple of recipes for frosting if you’d like to try 🙂 let me know!

choc coconut frosting from elanaspantry

avocado mocha frosting from food lovers kitchen

Date, Almond, Coconut & Banana Slice

So I tried something new and it turned out so delicious, I thought I better share! I love this because its takes about 30 seconds to make, has no sugar but is a yummy sweet treat. You paleontologists will love this!

Now, my style of cooking is pretty experimental, and I try to keep things as healthy as possible. The other thing about these type of “recipes” is that I sometimes don’t remember exactly how much I put in. Here’s a guide..

Banana date nut slice

2 c almond meal*
1 c dates
1 c desiccated coconut
3/4 c cashew nuts
1/2 – 3/4 c coconut oil
2 bananas
2 eggs
Vanilla

Chop dates and cashews and add them to almond meal and coconut in a bowl. In another bowl, mash up all your wet ingredients together – eggs, oil, banana and vanilla. Then make a well in the dry ingredients and mix!
Pour into a slice tin and cook for about 25 mins or so. Eat hot, cold or frozen!

*Please note… I never use pre made almond meal, I buy bulk almonds (from Aldi mostly) and blitz them in the food processor myself. It’s much cheaper and you get a wholemeal effect from the skin still being on, plus they aren’t blanched or anything. Win!

thefolksylife

Simple life, eating good food, doing what you love.