Paleo Egg Nog

When it began snowing yesterday, we began thinking of all things "winter."  My girls are always excited to see egg nog hit the shelves this time of year.  Since these cartons are full of dairy and additives, I began to search for a homemade version we can enjoy and digest.  This recipe from The Paleo Parents had lots of good reviews.  I started out with their basic raw version.

2 cups full fat coconut milk (I used homemade)
2 cups almond milk (I used homemade)
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract (since I used plain almond milk)
1/8 tsp ground allspice

Blend well in a blender, chill & serve with ground cinnamon or nutmeg on top. 

I felt it needed rum flavor to make it more egg nog like, so I added:

1/2 tsp rum extract (I'm sure real rum would be great, but this was made for children.)
1/8 tsp sea salt

We loved it with these additions! 

Pie, Pie, Pie!

Lately, I have all been all about the pie!  I love Thanksgiving, it is my favorite holiday.  Why not?  There is no gift giving involved, I does not last a whole season, and it's all about thanking God for His blessings and provision.  Plus, traditional Thanksgiving food is the best!  This year I do not want to compromise on flavor or texture, so we have been testing out many pie recipes.  With many family members with Celiac disease, gluten intolerances and dairy intolerances, and a preference for the paleo lifestyle, these pies should cover it all!  My mom makes wonderful, beautiful pies.  She has been using all her traditional, yummy fillings and putting them in a GF pie crust.  I'm not crazy about the crust recipe, and she has admitted that she is not either.  Here began my journey for a great tasting, great texture grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free pie.

My favorite crust is from the blogger, Brittany Angell.  I bought the $10 yearly membership to Club Angell for exclusive recipes.  So, I cannot share this crust recipe on here.  I will say that here Club Angell recipes are very good, but not incredible healthy.  They often are in the "occasional treat" category in my opinion.  They are very good and my kids have enjoyed most of them, so I'd say it's worth the $10.  Her price is about to go up, so subscribe during the month of November if you are thinking about a subscription.  http://brittanyangell.com/

First I tried 2 pie recipes from Danielle Walker's ebook, Thankful.  This can be purchased for $1.99 on Amazon.  http://www.amazon.com/Danielle-Walkers-Against-All-Grain-ebook/dp/B00GP34AWK  I think it may have been worth it for the pecan pie recipe.  This was so good.  I used the crust and filling recipe from her ebook.

 
I used the Brittany Angell crust and the pumpkin pie filling from the ebook for this next pie.  It was good, but did not have the "traditional" pumpkin pie flavor.  Don't get me wrong, it tasted good & we ate it all, but it is not a winner for this Thanksgiving.

  
Then I used the Brittany Angell crust and used the filling from this recipe.  The texture was perfect and I liked that it made a nice full 10 inch pie.  It needs a bit more sweetness and definately more spice.  So, the search and experimenting continues for pumpkin pie.



I did make an amazing chicken pot pie with the Brittany Angell crust recipe.  The filling does have a small amount of dairy, but I bet it could be replaced with coconut or almond milk.  We hope to have this again!




Next up is this perfect apple pie.  I used the Brittany Angell crust.  As my 4-yr-old put it, "It's a winner!"  I used a recipe she sent out via email to her subscribers (this is free!)  I'm thinking you could easily adapt your favorite apple pie recipe with tapioca or arrowroot instead of flour and stevia instead of sugar.  I used Jonagold apples.  I left about 1/3 unpeeled and like how pretty it turned out.  



Now to continue the search for a really good paleo pumpkin pie recipe BEFORE Thanksgiving.  I don't think my family minds the journey, we ate pumpkin pie for breakfast today!

Microwave Sandwich Bread

I have posted this recipe within other posts before, but it is such a go-to bread it deserves its own post!  This microwave sandwich bread was one of the first paleo breads I made.  I always use the toasted sesame seeds and use olive or grape seed oil in place of the walnut oil.  I used a mixture of black and white sesame seeds for this batch. 

This is all it takes to mix it up, so it does not create very many dishes.  I use the 1/4 cup to measure the almond flour and flax.  The 1/2 Tbsp to measure the sesame seeds, baking powder, oil and honey in that order. Then the 1/4 tsp for the salt.


Next, I pour about 1/4 of the batter in each small glass pyrex dish like this.

I microwave them individually for 1 minute.  The recipe says longer, so it may depend on the power of your microwave.  I flip them out on a cooling rack and then reuse the dish for the next 1/4 of the batter.
 
 I slice mine horizontally.  This is one made into a yummy egg, turkey bacon, pepper & onion sandwich.


What will you use yours for?