It's been awhile...Banana Cashew Flour Muffins

I noticed my last post was in May! So many things have happened since then. We accepted new jobs, I moved up to teaching middle school, we bought our first house, and moved 1,001 miles away from home to live near my middle sister. It's been a whirlwind!

My mother in law may be the only person who reads my blog so here's a recipe just for her. I had some bananas that were turning brown and with the cold weather, we aren't really into smoothies, so freezing them wasn't the best option. I decided to make banana muffins and since I'm trying to still detox from Halloween, I decided to go without honey or maple syrup.

Banana Muffins
2 1/4 cups cashew flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbs cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut oil
3 large overripe bananas

Mix all ingredients together and blend well to combine. Fill silicone lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350* for 25min, or until brown. E requested his extra crispy (not sure that's the best way to describe muffins), so I baked mine for an extra 5 min.

Variation:
Add chocolate chips, walnuts,  or pecans.

Notes: I buy my cashew flour at Trader Joe's for about $5/lb. You can sub blanched almond flour, or make your own nut flour from scratch with a food processor. Just add the cashews and blend until fine and powdery. I have some issues with almonds, so we've switched over to cashew flour. It's a more gut friendly nut and I love the sweetness it adds to baked goods.

Immersion Mayo and Resistant Starch Potato Salad

Have you read about resistant starch yet? If not it's worth your research time. You can read about it in depth here. The theory behind it is that the good guys in your gut feed on a certain type of starch making it indigestible by your body similar to the indigestible properties of fiber. This type of starch can be found in green plantains, green bananas and cold potatoes. Try this potato salad recipe and your gut bacteria will thank you!

Ingredients

1 bag red potatoes

1/4-1/2 cup homemade mayo

2 tbs mustard 

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tbs garlic powder

1/4 cup chives

1 tsp dill

1/2 lb bacon

Boil your potatoes and chill in the fridge until cool enough to handle. Cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Set aside in a large bowl. Finely dice the chives and add to the potatoes. Finely chop the bacon and add to the bowl. Coat the mixture with mayo and mustard to desired creaminess. Add the spices and stir everything until well combined. Chill in the fridge to let set. You can serve immediately, but the flavors will be better once the salad sits in the fridge. 

I have an earlier recipe for mayo but here's a simpler version:

1 cup of extra light olive oil 

1 egg

2 tbs white vinegar

1 tsp sea salt or more to taste

1 tsp yellow mustard

1 tsp cayenne

Using an immersion blender blend all ingredients together until thick and creamy. (I like to put my ingredients in a wide mouth mason jar so I can use it as storage after it is blended.) The immersion blender saves you from having to meticulously pour in the olive oil when using a food processor or large blender. Plus, it is easier to clean! Store in the fridge for up to a week. 

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

6tbs butter or coconut oil

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tbs arrowroot powder

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour

1 cup frozen organic blueberries, rinsed

Juice of 1/2 a lemon or 1/4 cup of lemon juice 

1/4 cup of local honey 

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 pastured eggs 

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except blueberries in a kitchenaid mixer. (You can use a large bowl and a hand beater if you don't have a kitchenaid mixer. I don't know how I would survive without mine!)

Once ingredients are well combined, add the blueberries and fold in with a spatula. Transfer to 12 silicon lined muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20-25 min until lightly browned. The fork test doesn't work well with almond flour so check to make sure the inside is cooked thoroughly. If you're short on arrowroot powder try 1tbs coconut flour. These are very filling so they serve about 8 normal people or 3 ironmen. 

Kale Chips

I am a chip fanatic...who doesn't love a good crunch?! I've been really in to kale chips lately because they are guilt free, super crunchy and packed with nutrients.  If you haven't had them try my favorite version:

Ingredients

3-4 leaves of kale

1 tsp Lemon pepper seasoning

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 tsp sesame seeds

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375. Melt the coconut oil in a large glass bowl in the microwave for 30min. or in a small saucepan on the stove. Tear the leaves off the kale stems and add them to the bowl. Tear the larger pieces down to chip size. Using your hands, coat the kale with the coconut oil. Transfer the kale to a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning or another seasoning of your choice. For a spicy version add some red pepper flakes. 1/4 tsp should do the trick. Lastly sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Bake in the oven for 6 min. Remove and stir around on the pan. Return to the oven for 2-4 min. Remove from the oven and let cool. They will crisp as they cool. Store in a non air tight container to keep them crisp. Ours usually don't last that long!!

Easter Dinner

Easter is on of my favorite holidays because it's the day Jesus rose from the dead! He defeated sin and death just for us! How amazing is that? Here is how we celebrated:

Sweet potato casserole is an old Z family holiday favorite. I did my best to recreate it in a healthier way. 

Ingredients:

3 giant sweet potatoes

1/2 stick of butter

1/4 cup coconut milk (native forest is the canned brand I use)

1/2tbs cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup honey

Topping:

1/4 cup almonds

Drizzle of honey

1tbs butter

Directions:

Enlist a handsome husband to peel sweet potatoes. Cut sweet potatoes into large chunks and boil in a large pot until soft. Drain the potatoes and return to the pan. Mash the potatoes and mix in all ingredients until well combined. Transfer to a baking dish. For the topping, toast the almonds in butter in a skillet on the stove stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. Add the toasted almonds as the topping and drizzle with honey. Bake at 350 for 15min. Serves 6-8

We don't eat many green beans around here, but when we do we wrap them in bacon. 

Ingredients:

1lb uncured bacon

2 bags of frozen whole green beans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375* Cut the bacon in half to make double the strips. Stretch the bacon and lay 10-12 green beans on a strip. Wrap the bacon around the green beans and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes until bacon is cooked thoroughly. Serves 6-8

We enjoyed these sides with a yummy ham. I wish I could say it was uncured but our tiny town doesn't have that option. I guess we need to order one next time!

Paleo Pumpkin Waffles

In celebration of my 21 Day Sugar Detox coming to an end, I wanted to whip up some pancakes for breakfast....E nixed that idea and requested waffles. Who am I to argue with that. I had a hard time finding a recipe that used ingredients I had on hand, so I created my own. I'm pretty proud of myself. Cooking recipes are easy to throw together, but things that actually have to hold a certain shape are a little tougher especially when your husband is a breakfast connoisseur. Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups almond flour
3 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup coconut milk or water would work also
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (I used a mix of canned and fresh. Fresh has more water so you may be able to skip the 1/4 cup of coconut milk if you use fresh.)
1/2 tbs cinnamon
1/2 pumpkin pie spice

If you want to be fancy combine your dry ingredients first. If you're an entrepreneur (read as "lazy") just throw all the ingredients into your KitchenAid mixer and mix away! While the batter is mixing, heat your waffle iron and grease with 1/2 tbs of butter or coconut oil. Once the iron is hot, pour 1/3 cup of batter and cook until golden. Mine cooked very quickly today. Every waffle iron will be different so you're on your own for cooking time. Enjoy with your favorite toppings! If you skip the maple syrup, these would technically by 21dsd friendly!

Theme Night Thursday: Fajita Fiesta!

I've posted a fajita recipe before. You can find it here. This time around I used frozen bell pepper strips, skipped the tortillas and served these with a side of Mexican rice. I wanted to share the rice recipe. It's a family recipe and is super easy to make.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white rice (not instant)
1 tbs coconut oil
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes
1 can of water (about 2 cups)
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs (pickled) jalepeno juice
1 tsp salt or taste

In a skillet melt the coconut oil. Add the rice. Brown the rice until it pops. Then, add in the other ingredients. Cook until the water is completely absorbed, stirring occasionally. It should take 10-20 minutes.

Viva la Fiesta from ashagupta on 8tracks Radio.

Nutrition Notes: White rice is not strict paleo, but it is not an inflammatory food. For endurance athletes like E, its a simple, cheap carb to refuel with. If you are looking to lose weight, skip the rice. If you are maintaining weight, feel free to enjoy a small serving.

Sharpie Mugs

I made these for a good friend as an engagement gift. I used Crate and Barrel mugs, but feel free to find dishes at a thrift store or in the back of your cabinet :) All you need to make these are a couple of sharpies, white ceramic dishes, and an oven. I free handed these, but you could use a stencil.

Step 1: Design your mug, decide which colors you want and what design you will draw.
Step 2: Draw the design on the mug carefully. If you make a mistake use a q-tip with nail polish remover to touch it up.
Step 3: When your masterpiece is finished bake at 350 for 30min. to set the ink.
Step 4: Avoid the dishwasher! Hand wash only.

Paleo Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte

I've been a in a pumpkin spice kind of mood lately so here is the 1st of the pumpkin spice recipes that I have been concocting. I have also been drinking wayyyy too much coffee. I seem to have an addictive personality. The downside to coffee is that I get a little jittery and anxious when I drink it everyday.
Trader Joe's has a chai tea that is caffeine free, so this is what I used. It's called Spiced Rooibos Ruby Red Chai Tea If you're not concerned about caffeine you can use coffee instead, or regular chai tea.

Ingredients:

8oz water
2 Chai tea bags
2 tbs pureed pumpkin (I used a canned version from Costco that is BPA free. Fresh works as well, but make sure to squeeze out the excess water.)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (this is easy to create yourself with nutmeg, ground cloves, ginger and cinnamon)
2 tbs heavy cream or full fat coconut milk (refrigerate the coconut milk and skim the thicker liquid off the top)

 Directions Heat your water and soak the tea bags in a large mug or cup. I like to place the tea bags in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. You want a strong tea, but not so strong that it becomes bitter. Add the other ingredients and use an immersion blender to mix. You can us a traditional blender if you don't have an immersion. Blend for at least 2 minutes. Blending the cream/coconut milk will cause the drink to thicken. Enjoy!

EZ eats: Paleo Meatballs

Spaghetti squash is a weekly thing around here. The only problem is E is a huge spaghetti fan so the fake version with squash is not his favorite especially as leftovers. I on the other hand love it. To spice things up I decided to make some paleo meatballs. E said the made the spaghetti squash 100x better. So here's the recipe!

Ingredients

1lb ground beef (grassfed preferrably)

1/2 lb ground sausage

1 carrot shredded

1tbs garlic

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1 tbs Italian spices

1/2 tsp pepper

1 egg 

1/4 cup almond flour or finely ground almonds

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well with hands. Form into balls and space evenly on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until no pink can be seen in the middle. Remove and serve on top of a pile of spaghetti squash with your favorite marinara! 

21dsd Granola

I started the 21 day sugar detox on Monday because I'm tired of sugar controlling my life!! I've also been trying to add more fat to my diet. When served with cream, this is the perfect recipe to address both of those goals.

Ingredients:

1 cup almonds

1/2 cup pepitas

1/3 cup coconut flakes

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/2 tbs pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 275. Lightly chop the almonds in a food processor or nut chopper. Combine the almonds, pepitas and coconut flakes in a bowl. Pour the melted coconut oil over the mix and sprinkle on the spices. Stir until well combined. Spread the mix out onto a cookie sheet. You can use parchment paper for less clean up. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Return to oven for 10-20 minutes until it's a golden brown. Let sit to cool before placing it into a container. It will dry as it cools. This goes great with heavy cream or coconut milk. It's good alone as well!

EZ Eats: Sweet Potato Hash

My favorite way to give E a good helping of carbs is with a sweet potato or squash of some kind. Usually I'm lazy and throw it in the oven to bake. I decided to be less boring and make my own hash recipe to spice things up. This is an easy recipe that doesn't take a lot of standing in the kitchen cooking time.

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato (baked in the oven for 45 min or until soft)

1lb stew meat (grassfed beef is best, you could use another inexpensive cut like bottom round)

1tbs dried rosemary

Salt to taste

2 tbs minced garlic (I love garlic so feel free to tone it back)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups fresh spinach

I suggest precooking the sweet potato before you start this recipe. This will save you loads of time. 

If you're last minute like me....while the sweet potato is baking cook the beef in a skillet on the stove. Start with 1tbs of butter and the garlic. Once the garlic is golden add the beef and season with cayenne pepper. Stew meat is precut into chunks, so if using a different cut of meat you will need to cut it into 1 inch cubes. Cook the meat on medium to cook it slowly. Cheaper cuts of meat cook better on low heat for longer cooking times. Add the spinach to the pan once the beef is cooked through. When the potato is finished cooking remove and let it cool. You can remove the peel once is it cooled or leave it on. There are conflicting studies on the health benefits of potato peels. One side says that it's rich in minerals from our soul (our soil is deplete of those minerals lately) the other side of the fence says that the peel houses antinutrients and isn't beneficial so the choice is yours! Coming back from that tangent...cut the potato in 1 inch cubes. Add the potato to the pan and season with the rosemary. Let cook about 10 more minutes, remove from heat, and serve!

Blueberry Paleo Pancakes

These are inspired by Sarah Fragoso from Everyday Paleo. Her recipe is awesome, so try it too!

Ingredients

3/4 cup raw almonds ground in the food processor to a fine meal (I'm going to experiment with soaked almonds for my next recipe)

2-3 eggs (I use 3 but I think you could get by with 2)

1/2 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/2 tbs pumpkin pie spice 

1 cup frozen blueberries defrosted and rinsed (you can put these in a strainer and run them under water to thaw and rinse.)

2 bananas 

After you process the almonds to a fine meal add the baking soda and other dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the bananas and eggs. Add in the dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Finally add the blueberries and stir gently. Grease a skillet with bacon fat (coconut oil, butter or ghee all work great but I love the bacony taste the bacon grease adds). Scoop 1/4 cup of the batter onto the hot skillet. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve plain or with maple syrup! We enjoy these after a tough crossfit workout or as a Sunday treat!

EZ Eats: Fish Pockets

My family loves to chop up veggies and toss them in a foil pouch to bake in the oven especially the vegetarian side of my family. I decided to toss fish filets into the mix and boy were they yummy! This is a super easy recipe, so don't hesitate to try it.

Ingredients:
4 fish filets
1 small sweet potato
1 small head of broccoli
1 bunch of asparagus
8 small mushrooms
1/2 a lemon
4 cloves of garlic
rosemary
salt
butter
foil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Tear off 4 pieces of foil about 8-10 inches long (I make them as wide as they are tall). Chop you veggies and distribute evenly among the foil pouches, place 1 whole clove of garlic in each pouch and 1 fish filet. Cut the lemon into fourths and squeeze 1/4 into each pouch. Add 1 pat of butter to each pouch and sprinkle with rosemary and salt. Fold the pouches up so that they completely cover the veggies and fish. Bake for 45 minutes until potatoes are done. 1 pouch is one serving. If you are watching your carb intake use the sweet potatoes sparingly.

October is my Favorite

I've decided to make October my fitness challenge month. I'm trying to do my version of a Whole30 combined with a 21 Day Sugar Detox.  I tend to rebel when I have too strict of guidelines with my food, so I'm using their rules and tweaking them slightly. October is also a big month for us because it's 5 days from my 1 year anniversary, and I cannot believe it has been a year!! I of course asked for cookbooks (its paper right) and workout gear as my gift. Until my cookbooks arrive, I've been trying out some online recipes.

Here's what I made this weekend:

I tried Balanced Bites Apple Streusel Egg Muffins but I didn't have many eggs so I used 6 eggs instead of her 9. I also spread mine out among 18 muffins so they'd last a little longer. These are sweetened by the apples, no honey or anything added!

I also tried her Carrot Pumpkin Spice muffins and they turned out amazing!! There is no sweetener of any kind in these other than the banana and carrots. She says to shred the carrots, but next time I'd make sure to pulse them in the food processor to make them finer.

and finally my own recipe for gummy snacks

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened fruit juice

2 tbs gelatin (I use the great lakes grass-fed version, the orange bottle is the solidifying kind. I wouldn't recommend any other brand if you're looking to improve your health.)

Combine ingredients in a saucepan on the stove and heat until well combined. Pour into a jello mold or a Pyrex dish and chill in the fridge. When solid, remove and cute into squares. Store in the fridge. Sometimes I dilute mine with 1/4 cup of aloe juice to make it less sweet and lower in sugar. E complained that it wasn't sweet enough, so the choice is up to you! I used a super fruit juice called MonaVie, but any unsweetened juice would do! I also like pomegranate juice. These make a great post workout snack. 

Paleo Fudge

It's officially been over a month since I posted last! Where has the time gone?! So much has happened in this month. E said goodbye to his truck and is searching for a new car, he also signed up for Ironman Texas in May. I will be spending the next 7-8 months trying to feed his amped up metabolism.

We went down to Baton Rouge for alumni weekend and a gluten fest...I'm still paying for that one. 

I made a trip to Houston for the BFFs bachelorette party and wedding shower and this weekend we're off to her wedding!

We also officially joined the Crossfit gym in town and have been working our tails off. 

I promise to be better in all ways this month. I'm committing to a Whole30 and a 21day sugar detox to try to get my sugar cravings under control while participating in a local fitness challenge.

Anyway no one reads this for my life updates so here's a sweet treat recipe for paleo fudge. Fudge is one of E's favorite sweets and he gave this a thumbs up. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw cashews

1 tbs cacao powder

2-3 tbs coconut oil

1tbs honey or maple syrup (you can substitute a few drops of liquid stevia for a low carb/sugar free version)

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor and press into a dish lined with parchment paper. Chill for about an hour. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

Note my Ninja in the picture...we are extremely disappointed by his abilities and will be attempting to return him this weekend. 

My legs hurt.....

This weekend we tried out a new crossfit gym box whatever it's called in town. If I haven't mentioned, I live in a tiny metropolis of 40,000 people with the closest "city" being 2 hrs away. So a crossfit gym is a big deal. We're behind the times. Anyways we did a killer workout that destroyed my quads. Still can't walk today. Being the crazy person I am I decided to do this workout to try to actively recover. Stupid idea. Here's the workout I did:

You rotate through doing 21 of each exercise then 15 then 9. I didn't use weight because I was so sore, but feel free to add it. For abs I did full sit ups and v-ups on the last round. Enjoy! 

EZ Eats: Pesto Pasta

I've been dying to try making pesto for spaghetti squash or zoodles for quite some time. I finally got around to buying some (not so) fresh basil from Walmart. It was a sad excuse for basil, but luckily a later trip to the farmers market landed me with free fresh cut basil! I also landed a free giant sized zucchini. How awesome is that?...

I'm not going to pretend like I measured these ingredients for the pesto, but here are the rough estimates:

1-2 cups fresh spinach

1/4 cup(not packed) of basil

3-6 tbs olive oil (start with 3 and add more as you go to get the desired consistency, more oil is better when making it for pasta sauce)

1tbs garlic...did I mention I love garlic

1/2-1 tbs of salt, be generous for flavor but stingy for health

1/2 cup raw walnuts

Process all ingredients in a food processor, blender or nut chopper until smooth! Chill in the fridge to set and serve of the pasta of your choice. This also goes great with chicken! It makes about 2 cups of pesto. 

We used spaghetti squash as our pasta and I stir-fried some ground beef with mushrooms, butter and black olives. 

Sweet Treat Saturday: Paleo Pecan Pie Bars

For some reason figs remind me of the consistency of pecan pie. We had a plethora of figs in the freezer, so I came up with the recipe for pecan pie bars!

Printable Recipe

Filling:
1 egg
2 c figs
2 tbs coconut flour
2 tbs butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs maple syrup
1/4 c roasted pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine ingredients except pecans in a sauce pan and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the pecans, save 10 or so to press into the top of the bars.

Crust:
1/3 c coconut oil
15 dates
1/2 c almonds

Process the dates in a blender. Remove and set aside. Process the almonds until finely chopped then add in the coconut oil and dates. Process until it starts to clump together. Remove and spread in the bottom of a parchment lined 9x9 baking dish.

Add the filling on top of the crust, press in extra pecans, and bake for 40 min. Remove from oven and let cool. Slice into bars. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. This can be served warm or cold and goes great with ice cream!

Back to School

Let the countdown begin! Only 1 week left of my summer...sad face...I spent a solid week in my classroom getting it put back together, so I thought I'd share some of my ideas, or Pinterest's ideas rather.

The desks are ready to go! With a name tag, book mark, pencil, red pen and a snack for the first day. The snack is goldfish (I feel extremely guilty feeding these to students, I guess I'll need to switch to an apple next year)...the tag says "You are O "fish" ally in 3rd grade!"

My students are seated in tables of 8. I attended a Kagan Learning program at the beginning of the summer and loved it! That's where the twister template comes into play.

This is a new addition to the room this year! I saw it on Pinterest, and decided I needed a little "white board" to write notes on to help me remind students before they walk out the door!

My sis over at Rosita Designs made this chart for me. It is perfect for surveys or quizzes.

This Octopus is by far the best part of my classroom. A good friend free-handed him! Who does that??  I use the Octopus to show which traits cause someone to be the helper of the week. I started last year with various different helpers and decided that 1 helper was much easier to keep track of!!

Telling time is huge in 3rd grade, so I have these clocks posted to help my students learn time! It also helps limit the number of "what time is...." questions I get asked throughout the day. That's not true, I still get asked.