Cherry Chocolate Chip Cake

I know that I say this a lot, but this is the best paleo dessert that I have made. I have had many people confirm this truth, but I suppose there is always the chance they were just being nice. However, since I thought it was so good, I have made it 3 times in the past week. Don't worry, I didn't even have a bite of the second cake and only a (tiny) piece of the third. I made those cakes for friends. Although I can't promise that I didn't lick the batter clean off the spoon. And bowl  :) The first time I made this cake I used Ghee as my Fat of Choice. Ghee is not technically "paleo" since it is dairy, but it is clarified and has all of the milk proteins/casein removed. This is beneficial for those that have sensitivities to dairy. However, because I know that Ghee is a no-no to some, I decided to substitute it for a different FoC on the other cakes. I don't think that the texture or taste was altered significantly, so feel free to use which ever fat you would like. I think coconut oil would be a great choice, too! I used almond oil for the last 2 cakes and loved the extra hint of almond with the cherries. I also made some amazing paleo cherry ice cream (and I don't even have an ice cream maker!) that we ate along with the cake. Amazing!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup ghee (or use almond oil or coconut oil)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
• 1 cup, approx, of cherries, halved and pitted.*

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix almond flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl
3. Mix eggs, almond extract, ghee, and honey in a small bowl
4. Incorporate egg mixture in to flour mixture. Mix until well combined
5. Fold in chocolate chips
6. Spray bundt pan with coconut oil, or other non-stick spray. Place halved/pitted cherries cut side UP in bottom of pan.
7. Pour batter on top of cherries and place in oven to bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cake passes the toothpick test
8. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes. Then, place a plate over pan and flip the pan over to release the cake on the pan.
9. Slice and serve!

* I used approx 20 cherries, that I halved, minus a few halves that got consumed while mixing.

Tropical Chicken Salad

I am not one of those people that HATE mayonnaise, you know, those people that despise the word and the thought of seeing mayo would make them sick...... I actually liked it on some things (gasp!)! However, when I decided to adopt the Paleo lifestyle, it was the first thing I threw out. I didn't miss it much for the first few months...but then...the craving for chicken salad hit. There are about a million paleo recipes out there in cyberspace for paleo chicken salad and they all required homemade paleo mayo. SCORE!!! Except.....have you tried to make paleo mayo?? While it is possible, and pretty tasty, it is really time consuming and it doesn't take much to mess up and have to start all over again. Believe me. BUT I wanted chicken salad and that was what it required. Unfortunately for me, I am too lazy to make paleo-mayo chicken salad as often as I craved it.

That is, until now! I recently read on a paleo-bloggers website (If I could remember which one I would totally give them due credit here) that they used COCONUT CREAM as a sub for mayo!!! #brilliant This is, without a doubt, the best chicken salad I have ever had. And I have had a lot of chicken salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed - I used left over rotisserie chicken (EASY!)
• 2 peaches, chopped
• 2 Tbsp dried, unsweetened cranberries
• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
• A few shakes of dried chives
• A handful fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup chilled coconut cream *
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Mix the first 6 ingredients in medium sized bowl
2. *Chill a can of full fat coconut milk. I stuck the can in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
3. Once the can is chilled, open the can and scoop out the firm cream on top into small bowl
4. Using a fork, mix the creme around to loosen it up a bit
5. Mix the cream with lemon juice, salt and pepper, then stir into chicken salad
6. Serve on top fresh spinach leaves 

Paleo Cinnamon Rolls

One of my favorite childhood memories is when I would wake up on a Saturday morning to the smell of warm cinnamon rolls baking in the oven! My mom and I would always fight for "the middle" and I typically won :) I attempted to recreate this memory, and while these aren't exactly the same, they definitely hit the spot. I ended up finding this recipe on a new website (to me) vaughangela.com. You can't really go wrong with warm, gooey, pull apart cinnamon rolls, especially Paleo ones!!!

These take a little patience so make them during a lazy weekend. And trust me, they are worth the effort!

Ingredients:
The Dough:

• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/4 cup ghee
• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans

The Filling:

• 2 Tbsp ghee
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup

The Icing:

• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp arrowroot powder

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a food processor, mix eggs, maple syrup, and ghee for The Dough. Then combine the rest of the ingredients (except nuts) under The Dough section and process until mixed
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place dough on top. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top and spread dough out into a rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick.
4. Pull the top sheet of parchment off and sprinkle dough with pecans. Press pecans into dough with hands
5. Combine all the ingredients for The Filling together in a bowl and spread on top of dough.
6. Slowly lift the dough off the bottom sheet of parchment paper and carefully roll into a tight tube. Start with the long end a roll away from you.
7. Use a sharp knife to cut individual rolls from the dough (about 1/2 inch thick). You can spray knife with cooking spray if it starts sticking to dough,
8. Place flat side down on the parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes
9. While baking, mix together all of the ingredients for The Icing.
10. When the rolls are done, drizzle some icing on top and serve.

 

*Disclaimer: Cinnamon rolls were probably not part of your regular diet pre-Paleo; Therefore, these should not be a regular part of your Paleo diet. These are for special occasions and absolutely worth it.

Caramel Pecan Bars

Happy Friday and Memorial Day Weekend! It's is my hope that everyone will take a moment out of their weekend to remember all those that have fought, and died, for our freedom. There is a  lady who works out at ITF whose husband was killed while serving and she is one of the strongest women I know and I respect and admire her more than she knows. She has written a blog post on IronTribe's website regarding Memorial Day and I encourage you to read it. Here is the link.

I know that a lot of people will be spending this long weekend by the pool with friends, at the lake, going to cook outs, etc so I wanted to give you a recipe that is SO GOOD and that will carry well to a party. Of course it is a treat - I just couldn't resist. BUT I do think that parties are the perfect time to make treats because you are less likely to eat too many :) I would recommend making this treat the day before your party as, IMO, this is better the following day. I snagged this recipe from paleomg.com and my caramel didn't turn out nearly as 'caramel' is color, but I think if I had a better food processor, we'd be in business.

When I made these, I shared them with my coaches at ITF and I have confirmation that they really are as good as I say!

Ingredients:
For the crust:

• 1.5 cups pecans
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 egg, whisked
• 1 Tbsp raw honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

For the caramel:

• 12-14 medjool dates, pitted and soaked in water for an hour
• 6-8 Tbsp canned coconut milk
• 3 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Add pecans to food processor and blend until you get flour. Then add melted coconut oil, honey, and vanilla and blend until combined into pecan butter
3. Add pecan butter to a large bowl with flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine well, then add whisked egg and mix
4. Grease and 8x8 pan with coconut oil  and add pecan crust to the pan, spreading the crust out evenly
5. Bake crust for 25-30 minutes or until done. Use the toothpick method to test for doneness (is that a word?)
6. Meanwhile, lightly clean out your food processor and add your dates. Turn the food processor on and process until dates have broken down
7. Add canned coconut milk, Tbsp by Tbsp to the dates while the food processor is running. Then add your water, salt, and vanilla
8. Process until you get caramel! Watching this happen is a beautiful thing :)
9. Once crust is done baking let it cook for 15 minutes
10. Spoon caramel over crust and use a spoon to smooth it out
11. Put in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Cut into bars and then consume!

Fruit Roll Ups

Tomorrow there is an event hosted by IronTribe called TribalWars that I will be competing in. Each team consists of 4 people and there are THIRTY FOUR teams competing! That is 136 people!!!! All the teams are extremely competitive and there has been a lot of smack talk going around! Every one is really serious about it. I even had t-shirts made (a lot of teams are also!) that has our team name, Wall Ballers, on the front, our individual nick names on the back, and on the sleeve it says 'ITF Tribal Wars 2012'. We are bringing our A game and are pumped to compete! The event begins tomorrow morning at 8:00 and is scheduled to end at 12. Each team will compete in 3 different WODs that will really test our skills and push us to our limit! I will be taking tons of pictures and will update everyone with a post next week. This is the second annual TribalWars and it is going to be amazing.
I am so excited that I literally could not sleep last night, and I have a feeling I won't be able to sleep tonight either.
This week I have been busy making treats for my team (and Adam's team too!). On the menu: fruit roll-ups, apple chips, beef jerky, pepita clusters, and pumpkin donuts (I will post the other recipe's next week, too) I will also be stocked with dark chocolate espresso beans, trail mix, Lara Bars, raw veggies, hard boiled eggs, and beer for afterwards! Here is the recipe I used from dkgetsfit.com for the fruit roll ups. They turned out pretty good and they have a little spice to them which adds a nice dimension. Next time I am going to try a peach and mango combination! The options are endless for these delicious snacks!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups frozen strawberries
• Sea salt to taste
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2-3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

1. Puree fruit in blender until liquefied. Add sea salt, honey, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Blend until well combined
2. Line 2 cookie sheets with tin foil, then line the foil with plastic wrap. Using a few pieces of tape, tape down the sides of the plastic wrap to the foil. I know this sounds crazy but trust me on this step
3. Pour approx 2 cups of fruit mixture on to each cookie sheet and tilt/shake it until evenly distributed
4. On the lowest setting possible for your oven, dehydrate the fruit for approx 10-12 hours. My oven was set to about 140 degrees. I left my oven unattended for a few hours and everything was fine, so don't worry. 
5. Once the fruit is no longer sticky to the touch remove from oven and (after removing the tape) roll the leather and then cut into individual servings. I then used some butcher's twine to tie each piece.

Fun Food Friday - sweet potatoes!

Thanks to the beautiful weather we have been having, I really miss the beach. A lot. I never made it there last summer, or in the sun much at all, because I was on some crazy medicine that basically forbid sun exposure. But, when I have traveled to the beach over the years we typically went to Destin. Our vacation would always consist of a meal (or two) at The Back Porch. As my side dish at T.B.P., I would always order the twice baked potato. YUM! It was amazing. Lots of cheese, white potato, sour cream....all mixed together in a warmed goodness. It really was the best twice baked potato I had ever had.
Now, let me connect the dots....beautiful weather = beach = twice baked potato; therefore, I have really been craving a twice baked potato lately. Problem is, I don't eat cheese, white potato's or sour cream anymore. What's a girl to do? Why, make a twice baked SWEET potato! I have no idea why this thought has never occurred to me before. But seriously, it never crossed my mind that I even COULD make a twice baked sweet potato. But that's exactly what I did, and it was divine. Really. Absolutely wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that I had only planned on eating half of it for dinner - and I ended up eating the whole thing.  Oops :-)


Ingredients:

• 3 sweet potatoes
• 6 strip's of bacon, diced (high quality!)
• 1 cup basil leaves (fresh is best!)
• 4 Tbsp EVOO
• 1/4 cup dry roasted almonds
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Cook the sweet potatoes. I always buy the microwavable kind and zap them for a handful of minutes, but some people are crazy and think microwaves will kill them and would rather use the oven. That's fine. Preheat it to 425 degrees, poke holes in the S.P. and cook for approx 30 minutes. *Even if you choose the microwave method, you still need the oven preheated to 425.*
2. While the S.P. is cooking, throw diced bacon in a skillet and cook until crispy. Once done, remove skillet from heat
3. Add basil and almonds to your food processor (invest in one!) and pulse until  almost combined. Slowly add in olive oil and pulse continuously until well combined. Then add your lemon juice and salt/pepper and pulse a few more times.
4. When the S.P.'s are done cooking, let them cool until you are able to handle them. Slice the sweet potato lengthwise and remove flesh. Try not to tear the skin away. 
5. Put the inside's of the S.P.'s in the pan with the bacon. Mash and mix together. Add cinnamon and basil pesto. Combine well. 
6. Scoop the sweet potato mix back into the sweet potato skins and top with a little extra cinnamon, if you'd like.
7. Put the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and pop in the oven for 9 minutes.
8. Consume

I did snap a picture, but showing it wouldn't have done it justice. Just believe me when I say, again, how amazing it was. This is a recipe that was adapted from Juli at PaleOMG! And if anyone wants to head to the beach, lake, or pool, just let me know! :) Until next time, Happy Friday! 

St. Patty's Day Cookies

Happy Fun Food Friday!!! Over the past week, I have been trying to come up with a treat to make for St. Patty's Day, and there was only 1 criteria - it had to be GREEN!! I wanted to make something that was different and without food coloring (since liquid food coloring is a paleo no-no) and so I came up with these cookies. They turned out awesome!! I was so pleased with them, and proud of myself! I made these earlier in the week just to practice and see if my "experiment" would actually work - and it did!!!

 Here is the magic: Sunflower seeds contain chlorogenic acid (chlorophyll) that will react with baking soda/powder and turn green, once cooled. Sure enough, the following day, the inside of my cookies were green! PERFECT! This is in no way harmful, nor does it change the taste - it is just merely a chemical reaction. This reaction can be stopped by several methods, but I wanted the green effect for my St. Patty's Day cookies!

I baked another big batch Thursday night to share with Iron Tribe, and Adam's work on Friday. This recipe makes 24, so I doubled it for the occasion.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups blanched almond flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp SunButter (brand name of sunflower butter)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Drizzle of honey (optional)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda, heaping
• 1Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
• Coconut Crystals (optional for garnish)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients 

3. In a small mixing bowl, mix egg, maple syrup, vanilla extract, honey and SunButter until well combined

4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until well combined

5. Pour melted coconut oil into batter and combine

6. On a parchment lined baking sheet, drop balls of cookie dough (about 1 Tbsp in size)

7. Sprinkle with Coconut Crystals if desired
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cookies pass the knife test

At the last minute, I came up with a simple icing to put on some of the cookies. All you do is combine the following ingredients: 1/2 cup coconut milk, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tbsp raw honey, 2 tbsp coconut flour. Voila!

Let the cookie cool down in order for the "magic" to take place. These reheat well in the microwave! Enjoy, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

No Bake Sticky Apple Bars

It is Friday and we all know what that means......FUN FOOD FRIDAY!!!!!!

What a week it has been! And by that, I mean, what a GREAT week it has been. It seemed that each day was a bit sweeter than the previous. I struggled in my WOD on Monday (I have no doubt it was the alcohol from the weekend before) but I worked hard and even Rx'ed it. I have felt stronger as the week progressed and even set a PR on my 5x back squats - 155 pounds!!!! After the max, I also Rx'ed the WOD (YES, that is TWICE in a week!)!  It really is amazing how a clean diet and consistent WOD's  make you stronger faster. I must give tons of credit to my coaches and fellow athletes for pushing me hard. I would not have been able to complete the WODs without them. This week I got to attend a food tasting and talk food with some really inspiring people (thanks again Chef Sean and Coach Luan!), cook some good meals, and experimented with different meats and cuisine (I was missing you, Chinese food!).

This weekend is going to follow suit as well - I am running a 5k saturday morning, eating lunch with my parents then going to the AWODS (a red-carpet awards ceremony hosted by IronTribe). On Sunday I am looking forward to church then planning my meals for the next week and cooking!!

I hope you have had a great week and have an ever greater weekend. So I will leave you with a treat that hopefully makes your weekend that much sweeter!

Ingredients:
Crust-

• 12 medjool dates, pits removed
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup Raw Honey
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup coconut manna, melted
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt

For the topping-

• 3 apples, cored and thinly sliced
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 2 Tbsp coconut manna
• pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. First, make the crust. Add all ingredients for the crust to a food processor until consistency of crust is reached.
2. Press crust down in an 8x8 glass baking dish until crust is evenly distributed
3. Heat large skillet under medium heat. Add in coconut oil, then the sliced apples
4. Once the apples begin to get soft, add walnuts. Stir continuously so the apples and walnuts don't burn
5. Once apples are wilted, add honey and coconut manna along with cinnamon and salt
6. When all ingredients are incorporated, pour mixture on top of crust and press flat. Put in the fridge to harden for 30-45 minutes
7. Cut into squares and serve!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

This recipe came from the ever-amazing Juli at paleomg.com. I have said it, and I will say it again, visit her site!! You will forever thank her. 

Fun Food Friday!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!! This is a recipe I made as a treat for my trip to Indy this weekend. Its called Banana Coconut Pecan bites. So original, I know. Now, it doesn't last but for a few days because of the bananas, which wasn't an issue for me because they were practically gone before they went bad. This would also be a great dessert to bring to a dinner party or even a wedding/baby shower since they are bite sized!

Ingredients
• 3 bananas
• 1/2 cup coconut manna*
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup crushed pecans
• 1 tsp cinnamon

* coconut manna is also known as coconut cream concentrate. Same goodness. Different name.

Instructions
1) Slice bananas in 1/2 inch coins. Place in freezer for 15 minutes
2) Melt coconut manna in microwave safe dish
3) Combine shredded coconut, pecans, and cinnamon in shallow bowl
4) Take banana coins and dip in coconut manna to coat, then roll in coconut pecan mixture to cover. Place on separate dish until all bananas are finished
5) Freeze for an additional 15 mins.

These keep well in the refrigerator, but don't have to be. They were fine all day on the plane and in the hotel room.

There are so many variations you could do with this : dip the banana in chocolate then roll in pecans, use almond bark for the dip and chopped almonds, and the list goes on!

Fun Food Friday's

I know that sweets (even Paleo ones!) should be NOT consumed on a regular basis. Treats are treats and should be treated as so (see, I DO love 'treats'.), but that doesn't mean they are not wonderful indulgences. And who am I kidding, I have the biggest sweet tooth! I should really try to avoid chocolate more than I do :)

Moving on... since I do, in fact, love chocolate, and my coaches at IronTribe, I decided to make them a little 'Paleo' treat for Valentines day. You know, to show my affection. I thought for a few days on the perfect treat to make and skimmed tons of recipes. I wasn't settled on any one recipe in particular, so I decided to combine a few of their ideas, with mine and make......Reese's Cups! Or, rather, a modification of them.

They are so simple, and so addictive. These are best if made for someone else so you don't eat them ALL. If you intend on making them for your household....well, I tried to warn you.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• 1 cup almond butter (or any other nut butter, pecan would be good!)
• 1 Tbsp raw honey

You will also need mini cupcake wrappers or candy mold. The mini cupcake wrappers are so easy and less messy.

Instructions:

1. Melt chocolate in double broiler or microwave
2. Mix nut butter and honey until well combined
3. Line a muffin tin with the mini cupcake wrappers. Not necessary, but will make your life easier.
4. Pour a small amount of chocolate in the bottom of each wrapper. Just enough to cover the bottom. Freeze for 10 minutes
5. Form balls out of butter mixture and place on top of chilled chocolate in the mini cupcake wrappers. Be sure that there is chocolate visible around the edges. 
6. Pour chocolate to cover the nut butter in each mini cupcake wrapper.
7. Freeze for 10 minutes.

I like these best when served chilled, and this is now going to be my go-to dessert when I am cooking for others. Delish.