Double Chocolate Walnut Brownies

No supper post tonight since we attended a wedding reception.  Earlier today I made these double chocolate walnut brownies.  My hubby & I just polished off half the pan, sooooooo I'd say they get the stamp of approval.  I will let you know what the kiddos think if they get a chance to try them.  :)



I used about 3oz of a 90% cacao chocolate bar in the batter and Dagoba chocolate chips on top.  These were very sweet!  I would probably cut back on the honey next time, but they were a great alternative to wedding cake.

Clean Out the Fridge Salad

So, I seriously just threw some things on a bed of mixed greens for lunch today.  Roasted chicken, grilled asparagus, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, pine nuts, V&O.

I also ate a couple of these cookies.

Another Waffle Recipe

I tried another waffle recipe this morning.  This one was light, crispy and the kids loved them.  These have more ingredients then some, so I will only make these when I have a little extra time. 
  
I will be sure to make this one again!!!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

This is a quick thing I make ahead and then bake later in the day.  We also had some green beans and peaches & blueberries.



Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1 lb ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 onion, optional
 salt
dried basil

Cook squash and scoop out into "noodles."  Place in a greased 9x13 pan.  Brown ground beef and onions.  Season with salt and spread out on top of squash.  Pour spaghetti sauce over the top.  Sprinkle with dried basil.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. 

Chai Tea Concentrate

Yesterday I made this chai tea concentrate.  I used Newman's Own organic black tea.  I omitted fennel seed, since I didn't have any & used 1/2 tsp of ground cardamom since I didn't have the pods.  Otherwise, I followed this recipe.  This morning I picked a friend up early to go garden seed shopping (it's that time of year, yeah!)  I decided to heat one of these up for each of us.  I made hers with whole milk and mine with half coconut/half almond milk.  It was yummy, but I wished mine was a bit sweeter, so I added about 6 drops of vanilla stevia to both our canisters.  Such a yummy treat to sip on while dreaming about all we can grow this summer.  I have lots of mix left, so I will definitely be using this as the temperature drops next week.


****Here's something I came up with to make an iced version****
 Iced Chai Tea Latte
1 cup chai tea concentrate
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup ice
6 drops vanilla stevia
 

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Today I made laundry detergent.  Why am I making laundry detergent on such a beautiful day?  Well, I ran out today.  We average about 3 loads of wash a day and it really makes a difference in our household.  I was lazy a couple months ago and quit making it.  I was buying the "free & clear" "contains no phosphates" brand and figured it was fine.  After a few weeks my kiddo with very sensitive skin was having breakouts in hives and eczema again.  I have now rewashed all of kiddo's clothes and their skin is much better!  I have included this since many people think making laundry detergent all comes down to price.

Anyway, I have made my own for years.  I've done the liquid kind that you use 1 cup, I've done the dry, powered kind, recently I've been making the sauce that you use 1 Tbsp per load.  I think the sauce kind is my favorite.  The liquid takes a lot more room to store and is messier to make, the powdered did not always dissolve in my HE machine on cold wash loads.

Here's the recipe I made today:  Laundry Detergent Sauce.  Here's what I do different.  I grate my soap in my Vitamix on Variable 4.  I also put the finished product in an 8 cup glass container overnight, then dump it all in my Vitamix to whip since my blade does not fit on a mason jar.    

How to Make Almond Milk

You only need 2 ingredients to make almond milk.  Why would you want to make your own instead of buying it?  The reasons are the same as I stated in my how to make coconut milk post.
  
You need just 2 ingredients:  
3 cups of filtered water
1 cup raw almonds

 
Place in Vitamix (I do not know if this will work in other blender.  My guess is it will, but it will need more time) and gradually increase power to 10, then run on high for a minute.


  
Run liquid through a nut-milk bag or I use a paint strainer.  Be sure to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.




Store in glass jars in the fridge.

Then discard pulp or make it into unblanched almond flour.

To make flour:
Dry out pulp.  I put mine in the toaster oven for about 1/2 hour at 250 degrees. 



After pulp is completely dry, place in blender or coffee grinder.  I think this flat blade fro my Magic Bullet grinds the finest flour.


Store in the freezer and use next time you want to make something have the "whole grain" look. 

Paleo Crepes

This morning was a repeat breakfast of this day.

Lemon-Orange Orange Roughy

I love orange roughy, but it is pricey.  Today I found some on sale at Kroger and tried  this new recipe with it.  We also had peas with mushrooms and grated golden (not strict paleo) and sweet potatoes.  I don't have a "real" recipe for these, but I just grate the potatoes, fry in grapeseed oil with minced onions, chives, garlic salt and pepper. I also had a mixed greens salad.

Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is another great recipe from elanaspantry.com!  I had these cookies ready when the kiddos came home from school today and they were a hit.  It is difficult to make a crispy, paleo cookie.  I think the palm shortening in this recipe is the key.
 

Here are some of the ingredients I used in this recipe and where I find them.




I prefer the Honeyville brand blanched almond flour.  I have ordered it directly from the company or through Amazon.  I have not found it locally.  



The only celtic sea salt I have is too coarse for a cookie.  I use this sea salt from Costco in most of my baked goods.



This is 100% palm oil.  I have found it at Kroger and HyVee in their health foods sections.  



I typically buy this sugar in bulk, but I have found it at HyVee.



 

These Dagoba dark chocolate chips are so good.  They are 74% cacao and fairly paleo friendly.  I get these through my health foods co-op, but they can be ordered online.  They are pricy, so I try to use sparingly.  The Enjoy Life brand ones are not paleo since they contain sugar.  I feel they are a better choice then some.  They are at most health food stores and sections in the grocery store.  I used a half & half mixture today since my kiddos prefer if they are not 100% dark chocolate.  This still is a lot less refined sugar than a traditional cookie!

I make my own vanilla.  Here is how:  How To Make Vanilla Extract

A Leftover Idea

Sometimes when I have a small portion of leftovers that sound like they would taste good together, I cube them up and put them in a container together.  This is what I did a couple days ago.  So, today I heated a Tbsp of coconut oil in a skillet and warmed it all up.  A super easy, yummy lunch.  Today it was 3/4 baked sweet potato, about 3/4 cup marinated chicken thighs and a few spears of asparagus.
 
Do any of you have quick lunch ideas?

Oven Omelet Revised

Several days ago I made this oven omelet.  Today, I used this as a base recipe and switch things up a bit.  They both turned out well.
 

Here's what was in mine today:
9 eggs, scrambled
1/2 cup coconut milk
salt
pepper
1 cup cooked beef bacon
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup sliced peppers
leftover sauteed mushrooms

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes in a 9x13 pan. 

Iced Vanilla Bean Latte

I had someone come over this afternoon.  I decided to make this quick treat using leftover coffee.  I used this recipe as a base for my latte.  I'm sure this would be great, but I was wanting more on an icee texture. 


 

 This is exactly how I did mine:
1 cup cold leftover coffee
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp maple syrup
1 vanilla bean (insides scraped out, discard bean)
1/8 tsp cinnamon
about 2 cups ice

Throw everything in the blender and combine.  Serve immediately.

Grilled Burgers in a Lettuce Wrap & Rapberry Frozen Dessert

Tonight my lovely daughter grilled again.  She grilled burgers that were a combination of ground beef and turkey sausage.  She also grilled a combo of asparagus and julienned carrots.  I wrapped my burger in butter lettuce and topped it with Dijon mustard and sauteed mushrooms.
 
See that bright pink stuff in the bowl?  That was paleofied Vitamix recipe called Raspberry Zinger.  Here's how I make it:
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup honey
10 drops stevia
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb frozen unsweetened raspberries

1. Place all ingredients into the container in the order listed & secure lid.
2. Select Variable 1
3. Turn machine on and slowly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High.  Use the tamper to press ingredients into the blades.
4. In about 30-60 seconds, the sound of the motor will change and four mounds should form.
5. Stop machine.  Do not over mix or melting will occur.  Serve immediately.

Chicken, Apple & Pecan Salad

I ate a salad for lunch again, but this time it was outside!  Loving the weather today.  Anyway, I had baby spinach topped with roasted chicken, carrots, cucumbers, ground flaxseed, pecans, apples, V&O and salt.

Poached Eggs & Breakfast Cookies

 

I like to poach eggs in these reusable silicone muffin liners.  We also had the last on the breakfast cookies I made a couple days ago.  

Roasted Chicken Dinner

A simple roast chicken for dinner tonight.  There are no hard, fast rules for roasting a chicken.  Just make sure to rub it with olive oil and season it plenty.  I like to stuff a halved lemon in the cavity, but I forgot tonight.  Roast in 300 or so degree oven, covered.  This can take just over a hour to 2 hours depending on the size of your bird.  Also had some corn (not strict paleo), green beans and muffins I made earlier.

Apple Almond Muffins

My mom asked me if I had any gluten free bread recipes that those who don't eat GF enjoy too.  This recipe came to mind.  Since I had not made them in awhile, I decided to mix up a batch. 

Spinach & Chicken Salad

Leftover piece of chicken on top of baby spinach.  Topped with cucumbers, peppers, pine nuts, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.  Also had some kiwi and pears.

Grain Free Waffles

These turned out well.  They are VERY filling.  Who knew you could make great waffles with raw cashews???? Check out his recipe.  The kids liked them & I have a few to toast another day since I made a double batch.  We ate ours with blueberries and a bit of maple syrup. 

Beef with Broccoli & Cauliflower "Rice"

This has become a favorite weeknight meal for our family!  I make 1 1/2 recipes for us.

Sometimes everyone is eating at different times and you need a simple "one-dish" meal.  This is technically 2, but we mix them together.  Here was the schedule at out house tonight (which is not unusual), I'm sure some of you can relate.
4:45 Child #1 returns home from sports practice, hungry
5:05 Mom & Child #2 leave for music lessons
6:25 Return home from lessons
6:40 Hubby home for something to eat

So, everyone was able to scoop this up and eat a healthy meal when they could.  Now onto bedtime routine!


 
This is Beef with Broccoli for Elana Amsterdam's cookbook "Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry."  I served it over cauliflower rice.

(I do not feel right about posting one of her published recipes that she does not share on her blog.  Contact me via email/ phone if you'd like this recipe.)

 

Breakfast Cookies

Next, I made breakfast cookies.  I may eat these tomorrow if there are any left!  I followed the recipe, except I used raisins instead of currents.  Why?  Well, I don't have any currents & I have no idea if we like them.  Should I try them?

The top cookies are sunflower & peanut butter.   The cookie on the bottom is the breakfast cookie.

Sunflower Butter Cookies

I did some baking today!  First up are these cookies.  I used sunflower butter for me.  I made a batch with peanut butter (peanuts are not paleo) for the fam.  I cannot honestly say I love sunflower butter, but I do like it.  I feel like it's good to switch things up in my diet, so it works as an alternative to almond butter which I use frequently. 

Spinach Salad with Salmon

Today I used up a leftover piece of salmon.  I put it on baby spinach and topped it with cucumbers, red pepper, pine nuts, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

Scrambled Eggs and Grapefruit

Monday mornings can be rough.  Monday mornings after a super busy weekend and staying up way too late can be really rough.  Here is my super simple go-to breakfast.

 
The grapefruit was one of those packed in light syrup, so not completely legal.  I drain off the syrup & just eat the fruit.  Something I only have on occasion.  

Carrot Cake Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs with Beef Bacon

Here's my post for yesterday's meals.  The only meal I had at home was this.
 
Made these carrot cake pancakes.  I also made some scrambled eggs with beef bacon.  I ordered the bacon from U.S. Wellness Meats.

The rest of the day was mainly eating on the go.  I had a green smoothie with protein power, a sandwich made with paleo bread and some nuts and fruit.  

I plan to be home more this week and have a few new things to try!