Valentines Day Recipe Ideas

Valentines Day is sneaking up on me, I had intended to do this post earlier but just didn't get to it until now.  Here are some fun ideas, some I've found on Pinterest, some are favorites or ours, and some just looked fun.  We will be making Chocolate Sun-Butter Cups in a heart shaped mold, along with some other truffle filled dark chocolate candies, we might also do some Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and for sure some Bacon Wrapped Dates, we all LOVE those.  Happy Valentines Day!

Here are some great breakfast ideas:

You could make these into heart shapes using a metal cookie cutter, and top with syrup, whipped coconut cream and strawberries.

Or these yummy Strawberry Paleo Crepes.

Paleo Custard Sauce (shown with blueberry sauce).

Paleo and GF Carrot Cake Waffles with Maple Spread

Fun Ideas:

http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/2011/01/valentines-day-i-wheelie-like-you/

I thought this was a fun alternative to candy, little boys can make and give these little cars, the top link has the free printable:

http://abrittwithoutboys.blogspot.com/2011/02/class-valentines-2011.html

Grain Free Garlic and Herb Crackers 
(made with almond meal)

 

Cute Idea from Primally Inspired

 Fruity Valentines Idea From: 
Hatter and Hare Event Blog

From Twig and Thistle on Etsy,
 you can order these labels, very creative.

Dessert Ideas:

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Devine Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Cake

Non Dairy Strawberry Ice Cream

We will be making these in a heart mold,
 Sun-butter Dessert Chocolates

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Paleo Sugar cookies from Against All Grain

Double Chocolate Cupcakes from Urban Poser

Raw Cashew Dream Cheesecake (non-dairy and GF), Recipe from: My Roots, Photo from: Paleoliscious

My favorite Paleo Brownies from Elena's Pantry, I reduce the honey to 1 cup, and maybe use a heart cookie cutter to make them more special.

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Apple and Raisin Oven Pancake

My apologies for the low quality picture in this post, unfortunately our computer has been broken for a while now (another reason my Kombucha post isn't up yet). So I have to do everything on my phone, which if you can imagine is a bit cumbersome, since I can only type letter by letter on a tiny screen. And I don't have access to all my photos either so I had to copy and paste this one from my Facebook page. All that to say we have really been enjoying this and just wanted to share it with you all. I've Been extremely busy with life and moving so i just took a few moments to put this post together. Like my Quick and Easy Oven Pancake this is still quick and easy! And because my children love to douse everything in pure maple syrup I don't add any to the batter, however you could try that if you're not going to be topping it with syrup. Maybe 1-2 TBSP, but honestly I haven't tried that yet, we love it just the way it is. Hope you enjoy and Merry Christmas to everyone!


Delicious Apple and Raisin Oven Pancake

2 very large apples thinly sliced (or 3 med/large apples)
1/2 cup organic raisins
2 TBSP coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut milk ( full fat milk)
1 tsp cinnamon ( I use Saigon cinnamon)
Pinch of allspice
Pinch of nutmeg

FOR THE BATTER:
12 eggs
1 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk ( or one can Thai kitchen 13.66 ounce)
2 cup almond flour
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Sauté apples in coconut oil for a few minutes over med- med high heat, until they start to soften. Add remaining ingredients and sauté until slightly thickened and reduced ( a couple of minutes). Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Pour apples and raisin mixture into greased glass pan and combine the ingredients for the batter in the following manner:
Combine the batter ingredients in a medium bowl, (not the butter) and beat for 1-2 minutes. Then pour into pan over the apples and raisins and top by drizzling the melted butter over it. Place in the oven and bake for about 40-50 minutes or until golden brown and done in the middle ( watch it near the end in my experience oven temps can vary greatly). Top with some maple syrup and some whipped coconut milk and you are in for a treat!

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Quick and Easy "Paleo" Oven Pancake

I found a recipe for an oven pancake on Pinterest the other day and decided to convert it.  In the conversion process I also added some vanilla and cinnamon to it and the end result was something we all loved!!  It reminds me of Overnight French Toast in our pre-paleo days.  This is so quick and so easy, and really tasty,  and if you know me at all you know I love that combination (quick, easy and tasty)!  

Thicker version, double batch in a 9x13" pan.

Quick and Easy Paleo Oven Pancake

6 eggs
1 cup full fat coconut milk
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter (1/2 a stick), melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 inch pan well (be sure it's good and thick), combine the above ingredients in a medium bowl, beat for 1-2 minutes.  Then pour into pan and pour melted butter over the top, move to the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until done.  This will make a thin oven pancake, for a thicker one like I have in the photos you will need to either double this recipe or use a 8x8 pan instead.  We like it both ways, thin and thick, but to feed my crew I need to make it thicker so more of them get fed! Top with some maple syrup and you are in for a treat! 
*TIP* 
I poured our maple syrup into a simple squeeze bottle with a small tip and it works wonderful, now we can just drizzle the syrup instead of pouring.  And the kids can do their own now because they have better control.

 Hope you enjoy!

Going in to the oven.

Nice and puffy, ready to come out of the oven.

Ready to enjoy!

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"Paleo" Custard Sauce

Being budget minded, I just knew I had to find a use for all those extra yolks after making Crepes (I have modified my crepe recipe as of today).   This Custard Sauce is what I came up with, it's a fun to eat it in the crepes topped with my fruit sauces.  My suggestion would be to separate the yolks out the night before and make the custard sauce, Blueberry Sauce, and Strawberry Sauce in advance (storing them in the fridge).  Then in the morning you can pull them out, make your crepes and warm up the sauces if you would like,  serve,eat, and enjoy!  I particularly like the blueberries with the custard sauce, and have not tried the strawberry.  But I can say the blueberry sauce with the custard filled crepes were delicious!  

"PALEO" CUSTARD SAUCE

8 egg yolks 
1 can of full fat coconut milk ( I used Thai Kitchen)
3-4 TBSP honey or maple syrup
1/4 tsp-1/2 tsp vanilla (start with less and taste) 
dash of salt


Start by heating your coconut milk and honey/maple syrup and sprinkle of salt over medium heat for about 5-6 minutes until milk becomes a little hot.  Then remove from heat and slowly whisk a little of the "hot" milk into the egg yolks.  Don't add it all, just about 1/3-1/2 of the mixture.  Then add the egg mixture to the milk in the pan, whisking while you add it.  Place the pan back on the burner and heat over low heat (about 3 on my electric range), stirring constantly ( whisk works well), until it begins to thicken up a bit.  You don't want it to boil, just thicken up.  When it reaches your desired thickness, remove from heat, add your vanilla, and allow to cool, placing a piece of plastic wrap on it will help keep it from forming a skim if that bothers you.   You can either serve warm or cold, my preference is cold, but it really does not matter.  If it should curdle on you, an easy way to save it is to throw it in the blender, that will smooth out any curdles and give you a smooth sauce once again.  So it's really quite simple and easy.    Spread in crepes and top with some fruit sauce and enjoy.

Crepe spread with custard sauce and topped with blueberry sauce.
Ready to be wrapped up.

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A New recipe!! SWEET POTATO ZUCCHINI CAKES

So...I know I did this whole post on how I was doing much creatively in the kitchen lately, but guess what?  I have a new recipe for you!  I made Sarah Fragoso's Garden meatballs the other night and had more shredded sweet potato and zucchini then I needed, so I thought to myself, what can I do with this?  So for breakfast the next morning, I threw these ingredients together fried them up in some butter and the kids LOVED them!  As always, my recipes are just a jumping off point feel free to personalize it to your taste.  My kids prefer them " burnt" as they call them, which is really just well browned, much more brown than the ones in the photo.  They say it makes them taste like cheese, which for my kids is a huge treat.   They have all had dairy issues and had to avoid dairy since birth, so tasting like cheese is a huge hit with them.  One of the things I love about these is that you can just shred up your zucchini and sweet potato in advance and store them in glass airtight containers int he fridge, pull it out in the morning and whip up a batch of these.  And my daughter who claims she hates eggs, even likes these, what a great way to sneak in more veggies, eggs and give them a great start to their day.  My 7 year old even packed one for her lunch today!  I wonder if bacon would be good in these....hmmmm.  Okay enough rambling, here is the recipe.

SWEET POTATO AND ZUCCHINI CAKES

Serves 4-5

4-5 cups of shredded sweet potato and zucchini ( used about 1/2 and 1/2)
8 eggs
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp coarse ground pepper
1/4 tsp sweet basil (dried)
3/4 cup almond flour
Butter or Ghee for frying in (this is and important flavor ingredient too)


Crack your eggs into a large bowl and beat well with a fork or whisk.  Add in the salt, pepper, basil, mix well and stir in the sweet potatoes, zucchini and almond flour, mix well.  Then place a small skillet over medium heat (give or take a few degrees depending on your stove), melt a few TBSP of butter.  Then using a ladle, scoop up a ladle full of the mixture and pour into the pan.  Let the one side cook for a few minutes until it's to your desired doneness, then flip and cook the other side.  Remove to a platter and repeat the steps for cooking the rest of the batter ( you may have to add more butter/ghee as you go along, butter makes it better).  My kids like to eat it with ketchup but my husband and I eat them plain.  There you have it simple, easy, nutritious, economical and yummy all in one!  Enjoy! Pin It

Sausage Griddle Sandwiches

One of our favorite uses for leftover Fluffy Grain Free Pancakes (almond flour is our preference) is to make Sausage Griddle Sandwiches. They are really easy and so tasty! I make up a batch of Homemade Breakfast Sausage (Turkey or Pork), make it into small patties and fry them in bacon grease the night before.  Then the next morning, I beat one egg at a time and pour it into a greased ramekin, and then microwave for about 30-40 seconds.  Then I layer starting with a pancake then sausage, egg (I usually slice it in half so it's thinner) and then another pancake.  Or sometimes we add in a couple of strips of bacon.  These are quick (with some advanced planning), easy and tasty.  It's a breakfast that my 4 younger ones request.


1 batch of leftover pancakes
1 batch of precooked Breakfast sausage
eggs
Bacon (optional)

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Single Serving Coconut Flour Pancakes

I had a reader make a request on Facebook for a Single serving recipe of my coconut flour pancakes.  Since my kids have no school today I tinkered around with several single batches rather than my one large batch and this is what I came up with.  It will make 4 small-medium pancakes, which I find are easier to flip than the larger ones.  I think they are best topped with unsweetened applesauce and some fresh berries. My children however, like a little drizzle of pure maple syrup over the applesauce and berries, you could even whip up some coconut whip cream or if you do dairy some real whip cream to top all that yumminess with too!  The thing I love about these pancakes is that they are so high in protein, it's really like eating your eggs disguised.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Vanilla Coconut flour Pancakes (High Protein)

Servings : 1

2 extra large eggs 
2 1/2 TBSP coconut flour ( I use Coconut Secret Raw coconut flour)
1/8 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP Coconut Milk ( I use So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk)


Preheat your Griddle to about 325 degrees.  In a pourable bowl combine all of your ingredients and then beat with an electric hand mixer on high for 1 minute.  Grease your griddle well with coconut oil and make your pancakes.  If the tops don't start to bubble after a few minutes then lift them a little with your spatula to check the bottom and see if they are ready to be flipped.  Remove from the griddle when done and serve with some applesauce, berries, and whatever else you may like.  Enjoy!


*Note* I just modified one of my other pancake recipe to include some Maple syrup in the batter, maybe try 1 tsp if you're interested and let me know what you think

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Spinach and Sausage Frittata

The other day I was trying to think up a new take on breakfast, eating fried or scrambled eggs everyday was getting old.  This is what I came up with a new version of Fritata, as always feel free to use this as a jumping off point and make modifications to make it your own.

SPINACH AND SAUSAGE FRITTATA

1 cup bacon ends, chopped

2 cups of raw uncooked homemade turkey sausage (recipe is found here)

4 cups chopped spinach

1/4 cups chopped fresh chives

1/4-1/2 tsp dried cilantro

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp ground white pepper

10 eggs

1/4 cup coconut milk (full fat)

Chopped tomato

Fry your bacon ends until nice and crispy.  Remove from the pan and set aside, reserving the fat in the pan, add the ground turkey and cook until done.  Then add your chopped spinach and chives and cook until the spinach is well wilted.  Crack your eggs into a large bowl, add the milk and spices and beat with a wire whip until blended well.  Add the bacon to the meat mixture and pour the egg mixture over it.  Sprinkle with chopped tomato.  Cook over low-med heat for a couple of minutes and then place in the oven and and broil for a couple more minutes until done (watch closely).

 Turkey Sausage and veggies ready to go.

 Ready to go in the oven.

 All done and ready to be served.

 Mmmmm....yummy!

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Paleo Deviled Eggs

 Today my 4 year old and I whipped up a batch of fresh homemade Paleo Mayonnaise to use in our deviled eggs.  There are so many different variations on deviled eggs, from gourmet to traditional, and many of them sound delicious!  My family usually prefers the traditional take on deviled eggs so we stuck to a simple recipe.  Feel free to substitute the above Paleo mayonaise recipe in your favorite deviled egg recipe.  Here is what we did today.

Deviled Eggs

6 hard boiled eggs

1/4 cup homemade mayonnaise

1 tsp prepared yellow mustard

1/2 tsp salt 

dash of pepper

Peel your eggs and slice in half lengthwise, then scoop or dump the yolks out into a small bowl.  Add your other ingredients to the bowl and mash well with a fork, this was my 4 year old's favorite part!  Then scoop out the egg mixture and fill a small Ziploc bag, squeeze out the air and zip the bag shut and cut off the very bottom corner or tip of the bag.  Then squeeze the contents to fill each egg.  My little helper really enjoyed that part too!  Sprinkle with a dash of paprika (we used smoked paprika for a different twist today).  Serve and enjoy!

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Fried Apples and Crepes

This morning, I was up a little earlier than usual, and thought it would be fun to make something different for breakfast.  This one is more time consuming than usual so I don't make it to often, but it is a fun treat.   And Mmmmm, so yummy.  I use  a version of

Sarah Fragoso's EverdayPaleo"s recipe for Fried Apples to fill them. 

Paleo Crepes

1/4 cup full fat canned coconut milk

1/4 cup coconut flour

8 egg whites (save the yolks for Paleo Custard Sauce)

2 whole eggs
2 TBSP melted coconut oil
1/4 tsp vanilla (optional)

Beat the egg whites and eggs with a wire whisk or hand mixer until a little frothy.  Then sift your coconut flour and add it in along with the remaining ingredients and beat really well. I have a wire whisk attachment on my hand mixer that works great for this.  

Heat a small skillet over medium heat with a little bit of Coconut oil in the pan so they don't stick if you are using a stainless steel pan, let it start smoking then pull the pan off the heat for a bit.  Reduce the heat to low (3 on my electric range) and pour in a small amount of batter  (about 3-4 TBSP) and swirl it around in the pan to coat the bottom and sides of the pan thinly.  Cook for a few minutes, watching closely, when the edges start to curl, flip it over and cook the other side.  I like to use a silicone spatula to loosen the edges a bit while it's cooking so it doesn't stick.  It usually takes less time on the second side.  Remove from the pan and either set aside or fill with your filling of choice either savory or sweet, fold and eat. Repeat these steps applying more coconut oil as needed to the pan (you don't need to heat it up just add at low temp).  This will make about 10 thin crepes.  

*If you are lacto-Paleo or Primal then try spreading a crepe with a thin layer of full fat plain Greek yogurt, fold and top with some BLUEBERRY SAUCE.
**Or fill with my  PALEO CUSTARD SAUCE and top with some fruit sauce.

Delicious!

Modified Fried Apples Filling For Crepes

4 Organic Fuji apples sliced very thinly (about 7-8 cups)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup of full fat canned coconut milk

1 TBSP saigon cinnamon

Slice your apples thinly and set aside.  When all your apples are sliced, place the coconut oil in a large skillet and melt.  When your oil is all melted add the apple slices and sauté over med-high heat or high heat until softened.  Then lower heat to medium. Add in the coconut milk, raisins and cinnamon and simmer stirring occasionally until it thickens up nicely and makes a sauce, usually just a couple of minutes. And then they are ready to serve.  

*I usually do the apples first and just keep them on low while I make the crepes.

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