Gluten Free Lemon Bars

Ingredients

Filling:

6 whole eggs

1/2 cup honey

1 cup lemon juice (about 8 lemons)

1/2 cup coconut oil

Crust:

1 cup of raw almonds

1 cup of raw pecans

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup of melted coconut oil

2 eggs

Directions

Filling

1. Whisk eggs, honey, and lemon juice together in a small sauce pan.

2. Heat on medium/high and add coconut oil. Stir until the coconut oil has melted.

3. Continue stirring until the mixture thickens and bubbles.

4. Remove from heat and place in a bowl in the refrigerator to cool and thicken further.

Crust:

1. Place nuts in a food processor or blender until finely chopped, do not puree. They should be in tiny pieces but not as fine as almond flour.

2. Mix the nuts with the remaining ingredients until they are well combined.

3. Spread over the bottom of a greased 8 x 12 pan. I used olive oil spray.

4. Heat oven to 400* and bake for 15-18 minutes. The crust will be done when you can insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean. (Watch closely, it can easily burn)

5. Cool crust completely before layering the filling over the top. Return to the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup baked, mashed sweet potato (about 1 medium potato)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), Refrigerated
Heavy cream for brushing the tops



INSTRUCTIONS
1)Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and toss with dry ingredients until butter is coated. Set aside.
2)In a separate large bowl, mix together milk and mashed sweet potato until evenly combined.
2) Cut butter into small pieces and toss with dry ingredients until butter is coated.
3) Stir milk mixture into dry mixture bowl until dough becomes fluffy. If too moist add more flour.
4) Scoop 1/2 cup batter and place on a baking sheet, brush tops with heavy cream, and bake until the bottoms are golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Recipe: Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte'

Pumpkin. Pumpkin. Pumpkin. 

I can't get enough of the stuff! 

Ingredients

• 8 ounces brewed coffee (or 1-2 shots of espresso)
• ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 3 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 2-3 drops of liquid stevia (or sweetener of choice)
• sprinkle of cinnamon

Instructions

1. In a cup or sauce pan, mix together almond milk and pumpkin. Cook on medium heat on the stove top or microwave for 30-45 seconds.
2. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, spices and sweetener, place in a cup and use a frother* to foam the milk. You can also use a blender – just process for 30 seconds or until foamy.
3. Pour coffee into a large mug, add the foamy milk mixture on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Enjoy!

*Frother: The genius of this drink. To buy one… look here: Bonjour Mini Frother

Paleo Granola

 I am so sick of eating eggs for breakfast. I've never been a big egg-eater anyways, so I commend myself for lasting this long. In an effort to spice things up, I made a trip to the bulk section and got ingredients to make Paleo Granola. I can't tell you how delicious this is.... the cinnamon mixed with the coconut milk (my preference, almond milk is too... nutty) is pure perfection.

Recipe: Coconut Pancakes

When it comes to a Sunday morning breakfast, I crave pancakes. Now that I am eating Paleo, I needed to find a pancake recipe that wouldn't leave me feeling guilty.

 I found it.

 Coconut Pancakes 

 Ingredients

 4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk (raw cow’s or coconut both work)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon honey or a pinch of stevia
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Coconut oil or butter for frying

 Directions

 Preheat griddle over medium-low heat.
 In a small bowl beat eggs until frothy, about two minutes.
 Mix in milk, vanilla, and honey or stevia.
 In a medium-sized bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk together.
 Stir wet mixture into dry until coconut flour is incorporated.
 Grease pan with butter or coconut oil.
 Ladle a few tablespoons of batter into pan for each pancake.
 Spread out slightly with the back of a spoon.
 The pancakes should be 2-3 inches in diameter and fairly thick.

Cook for a few minutes on each side, until the tops dry out slightly and the bottoms start to brown.
Flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
Serve hot with butter, coconut oil, honey, syrup, or fruit.

Recipe: Chocolate Banana Coconut Custard

I have a sweet-tooth, and most evenings I crave a frozen yogurt or a big bowl of ice-cream. A few nights ago I stumbled upon this recipe and it must had been fate….. I had all the ingredients!! Within 30 minutes, I was eating spoonfuls of this delicious, Paleo dessert.

Ingredients

• 1 medium ripe banana
• 2 Tbs almond butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• splash vanilla extract
• 2 Tbs raw cacao powder
• fresh fruit (to top: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)

Cooking Steps

- Mash banana with fork until creamy.
- Add almond butter, stir until well incorporated.
- Add melted coconut oil and vanilla extract, briskly mix using small wire whisk. (Use your muscles here to really smooth out the mixture with any remaining banana chunks.)
- Add cacao powder, whisk again and until thoroughly mixed.
- Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 mins to allow coconut oil to set and thicken the mixture.
- Add fresh fruit 

ENJOY!!!

Recently Pinned

Okay, so who's not addicted to Pintrest nowadays? I am spending an absurd amount of time on there, and I always have a way of justifying it.

I want a new recipe.

I don’t know what to wear tomorrow.

And then it gets a little out of hand….

I wonder what style I’ll want my hair… for my wedding day….

WHAT?

Here are a few of my recent pins…



Paleo Pumpkin-Walnut Muffins





I wanted the shoes.... so I bought them





Sometimes a girl just needs to hear this.





Something came over me.... think it was diamonds.



Mango Cucumber Salsa

All ingredients fresh from our produce box!

Ingredients:

2 ripe mangos
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 to 3 serrano chiles, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
Salt

Directions:

Peel the mangos with a small sharp knife. It’s easiest to cut a flat piece off opposite of the stem. Stand up and slice down towards the bottom. Cut the flesh away from the large flat pit on both sides, then remove it from the narrow edges. Cut into quarter-inch dice.

Mix mango with onion, cucumber, chiles and cilantro in a medium bowl, sprinkle with salt and lime juice to taste. Let sit for 10 minutes prior to serving for the flavors to blend.

What's For Dinner?

About a month ago I posted about the produce box we get once a week from Full Circle. Getting fresh produce delivered right to my door is beyond amazing! Organic spinach, carrots… apples and pears… YUM! But I can't keep up!

Tonight I had two problems: 1) I didn't know what to eat for dinner and, 2) I have lots of leafy greens and fruit… what to do??

JUICE!!!!

On the Board: 

1 bunch Spinach

1/2 bunch Rainbow Lettuce

1/2 bunch Green Chard

1/2 bunch Kale

1 Parsnip

2 Carrots

3 Apples

1 Pear

Splash of lemon juice (to tame down the leafy-swampy taste) :) 

Look at all the nutrients! 

There you have it. Dinner is served!

Stress+Cravings= Sugar Cookies

When I am stressed, I eat. Not only do I eat, but I have cravings. Since starting grad school, I have used these cravings and turned them into opportunities to procrastinate writing papers. It seems to be working. 

Needless to say, I was stressed with going back and forth between two papers, and I wanted a way out.  

I wanted to eat. I wanted to eat sugar. I wanted to eat cookies. I wanted to eat sugar cookies. I had all almost all ingredients. I was missing eggs. What's a girl to do? Improvise. 

I made sugar cookies without eggs. 

Here's how: 

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Oven
• Cookie sheets
• Parchment paper
• Mixing bowl
• Measuring cup
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup shortening or butter
• Electric mixer
• 1 cup milk
• Measuring spoons
• 1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Spatula
• Cooling rack

1. • 1
     Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
   • 2
     Line cookie sheets with parchment paper for an easy clean-up.
   • 3
     Put 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of solid shortening or butter into a mixing bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
   • 4
     Pour 1 cup milk into a measuring cup. Add 1 1/2 tbsp. of lemon juice. This is called "soured milk" and is a common substitute for buttermilk. Add the soured milk to the mixing bowl.
   • 5
     Add 2 cups flour and combine well.
   • 6
     Place 1 tsp. each of salt, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla to the sugar cookie dough mixture.
   • 7
     Mix the dough well until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
   • 8
     Use a teaspoon to measure out the sugar cookies. Roll into balls with your hands and place on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle additional sugar on top of each cookie if you wish.
   • 9
     Bake cookies for about eight minutes or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown. Remove from the cookie sheets with a spatula and cool on a wire cooling rack.