Paleo Banana Bread, Take 2

Last time, the banana bread was tasty, but it didn't come out quite right, and was greasy. This time around, I've cut down on the fat, and also added some chopped walnuts and pecans.

Paleo Banana Bread, Take 2

4 ripe Bananas
4 Eggs
1/4 c Butter
1 T Coconut Oil
1 T Cinnamon
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Baking Powder
1 t Vanilla
1/2 c Almond flour

Oven 350 F

1. Mash together bananas, butter, oil, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla.
2. Stir in eggs.
3. Mix in almond flour.
4. Pour in greased loaf pan.
5. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 45 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Paleo Blueberry Muffins

I decided it would be a great idea to put my Blueberry cheesecake scentsy blocks in today. And it created this gigantic craving for some blueberry muffins. I went digging around online, and decided to go with a simple recipe.

 The verdict? Next time I'm just going to add in some cinnamon, and a bit of cream of tarter and turn them into snickerdoodles.

Paleo Blueberry Muffins
(adapted from living healthy with chocolate)

1/2 c Almond flour
1/2 c Coconut flour
1/8 t Baking Soda
2 T Honey
1/2 c Water
2 T Coconut Oil, melted
1 Egg
1/4 c Dried Blueberries

Oven 350 F

1. Let dried blueberries soak in 1/2 c water for 30 min.
2. Whisk together honey, blueberries and soaking water, coconut oil, and egg.
3. Stir in baking soda.
4. Stir in flours. It will resemble cookie dough.
5. Fill muffin cups completely, it won't rise up over the top.
6. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Paleo Banana Bread, Take 1

We went to a family reunion the other day. One of my aunts brought this amazing banana bread. Teddy Beast told me I had to find the recipe. Well, I found one, and it looked super easy to change into a paleo version. Why a paleo version? Because cheat days come only once a month.

The conclusion of this version? Cut out half the butter next time. It ended up being too greasy to set up properly. But it still tasted amazing, kind of like a banana bread pudding.

Paleo Banana Bread
(adapted from our paleo life)

4 very ripe Bananas
4 Eggs, seperated
1/2 c Butter
1/4 c Coconut Oil
1/2 c Almond Flour
1 T Cinnamon
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Baking Powder
1 t Vanilla
pinch Salt

350 F Oven

1. Soften butter and coconut oil.
2. Separate eggs. Add yolks to butter and oil, keep whites separate.
3. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, set aside.
4. Add bananas, almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and salt to butter and oil mixture. Use a potato masher or whisk to combine well.
5. Gradually fold egg whites into batter. I did 4 additions.
6. Spread in greased loaf pan.
7. Bake at 350 F for 30-45 minutes. It's done when the toothpick comes out clean.

Recpie: Season Salt Mix

I've never been a huge fan of seasoning salt, for the plain and simple fact that I don't like salt all that much. This Seasoning Mix is an all purpose one that works on pretty much everything, and it does have a little bit of heat.

Mix the ingredients together in a jar, and that's it!

2 1/2 T Paprika
2 T Salt
1 T Black pepper (ground)
1 T Onion powder
1 t Cayenne
1 T Oregeno
1 T Thyme (finely chopped or ground)

Raw Paleo Vegan Cherry Chocolate Brownies

I've been craving brownies something fierce lately, so I found this super easy recipe. All you need is a sturdy food processor, and about 5 minutes of actual time.

Raw Paleo Vegan Cherry Chocolate Brownies
(adapted from Out To Lunch Creations)

1 1/2 c Dried Cherries
2 c Walnuts
1 c Cocoa Powder
1/4 c Dried Dates

Soak dried fruit in water to cover for an hour.
Put walnuts in food processor. Pulse until you have a mixture resembling cookie crumbs. Remove from processor and set aside.
Put dried fruit in processor, reserving soaking liquid. Process until a smooth paste forms.
Add in half of the cocoa powder until incorporated. Add in remaining cocoa powder. Add reserved liquid 1 T at a time if mixture becomes to thick.
Stir together walnut crumbs and fruit mixture, either in processor or by hand.
Press into an 8x8 pan or 8 inch pie crust.
Freeze 1-2 hours min.
Then cut into bars to serve, or roll into balls.

Yields: about 10 1 inch servings

Paleo Peach BBQ Sauce

With the Paleo diet, more than anything, I miss quick and easy meals. With our stove being broken right now, the closest thing we have to a 15 minute dinner is going outside and grilling something. While a freshly grilled steak is amazing every few days, every day it just gets old. I ran across this recipe a while ago while looking for "clean" (ie organic) BBQ sauce recipes. We tried it out today, and OMG! It was worth every penny! Teddy Beast approves, and says it tastes more like a Dijon mustard BBQ sauce than a tomato based one would.

Paleo Peach BBQ Sauce
(adapted from Canning Homemade!)

4 Peaches, diced (peeled or not, your preference)
1/2 Bell pepper diced, any color but Green
1 T Onion Powder
1 T Garlic, minced
1/2 c + 2 T Maple Sugar (or Honey, or Coconut Sugar, or Maple Syrup)
1/4 c + 2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
1 t Worcestershire Sauce
2 t Chili Flakes
1 t Mustard Powder
1 t Salt

Add everything to a crock pot, cook on High for 4-6 hours.
Stir every 10 minutes until there's enough liquid to cover peaches; then stir about every hour or so.
After peaches are tender and mostly cooked down, turn off crock pot and let cool for 30 minutes.
Blend smooth.
Store in an airtight container.

Yield: About 2 1/2 cups

Blueberry Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles sounded like an amazing idea, so off to google I went. Usually when I'm looking for a recipe, I just click onto the 4th or 5th page and start there. So glad I did this. I found this post by Bakegirl, and it sounded delicious.I made a few modifications to the recipe to suit what was in the cupboard, and they still turned out amazing. Moist and chewy, and a crunchy sugar cinnamon coating. Nomnomnom.

Blueberry Snickerdoodles

1/4 c  Butter, softened
1/4 c Coconut Oil (room temp or melted is fine)
1 c sugar
1 Egg
1 c Flour (plus 2-4 T seperate)
1/4 t Baking Soda
1/4 t Cream of Tarter
1/8 t Salt
1/2 c Blueberries
1/8 t Cinnamon
2 T Sugar
2 T Raw Sugar (the big crystals, or you can sub in regular sugar)

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cream together butter, coconut oil, and 1 c sugar.
3. Mix in egg, salt, baking soda, and cream of tarter.
4. Stir in 1 c Flour, adding more if necessary to create a non-sticky dough.
5. Carefully fold in blueberries.
6. In a separate bowl, combine cinnamon, remaining sugar, and raw sugar.
7. Roll cookie dough into 1-1/2 inch balls, roll in cinnamon sugar, and place about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet.
8. Bake 11-13 minutes until edges are slightly browned, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Makes about 1 dozen cookies.

Grilled Salmon and Avocado Salad

This was just a last minute, walk through the grocery store, and pick up whatever looks good. I found avocados first, and have been seeing all sorts of stuff with grilled avocados on Pinterest. I figured it was about time to try it for myself. Not a fan of grilled avocado, but the salad was still really good.

Grilled Salmon and Avocado Salad
1/3 head Romaine lettuce
1 c Spinach, chopped roughly
4-6 oz Salmon fillet
1/4 Onion, chopped thinly
1/2 Avocado, leave in peel
1/4 c Bell Pepper, diced
1 t Seasoning salt (I use a saltless mix, recipe is coming soon)
1/8 t Chili Powder ( I use an Asian variety that is pretty much just ground dried peppers)
2 T Limeade (or 1 T lime juice + 1 T water)
2 T Vinaigrette (I use this Blush Wine Vinegrette)

Get a piece of foil, about a foot square. Lay out the onions in a layer about as big as your piece of salmon. This is so the fish won't stick to the foil. Sprinkle both sides of the salmon with the seasoning salt and chili powder. Lay the fish on top of the oil. Add the bell pepper on top of the fish. Start folding the fish up into a little envelope, before you close it completely, add the limeade. Finish closing up the foil.

Heat up the grill for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium. Over indirect heat, place the salmon foil  seam side up and the avocado cut side down. Close the lid and let cook for 5 minutes. Turn the avocado over, and rotate the salmon 90 degrees, keeping the seam up. Close the lid and let cook for 5 more minutes. Remove the avocado from the grill. Check the salmon, if not done, place foil pouch back on the grill for another 5 minutes. When fish easily flakes apart, remove fish from grill and turn off grill.

Mix together romaine and spinach and put into bowl. Cut the grilled avocado into a large dice, sprinkle over greens. Open the foil packet and using a fork gently flake the fish. Place contents of packet over salad. Drizle the vinaigrette over the salad.