ALMOST Paleo Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:

Almond Flour

2 Eggs for the egg wash

Skim Mozzarella Cheese

1 large eggplant

1 Jar of tomato basil pasta sauce

Basil, Crushed Red Pepper, Salt and Pepper for seasoning

This will serve 4-6 

Use a peeler to remove the skin from the eggplant.

Slice the eggplant into centimeter width slices.

Use either Coconut or Sunflower oil to fry eggplant slices.  I poured this in my pan and had it heating while I prepared the first round of eggplant slices.

At this time preheat your oven at 300 degrees and be sure your cooking dish is greased .

Egg wash your eggplant slices.

Dredge in the almond flour seasoned with basil, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper.

Fry your slices until their lightly brown on both sides.  I had to dump my oil a few times throughout the process.  The almond flour gets very dark and turns the oil dark.  

Once they're browned pull them off and place on a paper towel to drain any additional oil off.

Start with a layer of the tomato sauce on the bottom of your greased dish.  I used a pyrex casserole bowl.  Then layer your eggplant, another layer of sauce, then a layer of shredded cheese.  Repeat until all of your eggplant slices are used. 

Top off with a layer of cheese.  

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cheese on the top is crispy and slightly browned. 

Serve and enjoy!

Paleo Eats: Zuc Pizzas

I'm always trying new things that fall under the paleo umbrella.  Last night I threw together these zucchini pizzas, they're very simple and quite yummy! 

Ingredients:

1 Zucchini

1 Cup of Tomato Sauce

1/2 cup of Crumbled Feta Cheese

2 strips of bacon

Crushed Red Pepper - optional

Greased my cookie sheet.

Cut the zucchini into round slices.

Aligned on cookie sheet and put a 1/2 tbsp of tomato sauce on each round.

Then I put a little feta cheese on each one.

I sprinkled the crushed red pepper over the rounds and then I cut the "raw" strips of bacon into little slices and placed 1-2 on each.

Baked for 15-20 mins on 350, or until the bacon is cooked to desired texture.

Yum!  I sautéed some shrimp to go along with it!

Enjoy! 

Paleo Stuffed Peppers

I am always trying to find ways to make my favorite meals growing up "paleo".  Here is how I turned the classic stuffed pepper with beef and rice into a paleo friendly meal.   I typically also make another vegetable side, a tossed salad or cauliflower rice would go well!  (Recipe for cauliflower rice coming soon!)

My Recipe will make 4 stuffed peppers halves... 

Ingredients:

2 Large Green Bell Peppers 

1 clove of garlic diced

5-10 Grape tomatoes halved

1/2 lb of ground turkey 

1/4 cup of spinach (I used packaged frozen spinach)

1/4 cup of Feta Cheese

1/4 cup of Good Seasons Italian dressing with Sunflower Oil.

1/4 cup of Almond Meal/Flower 

Tomato Sauce - use as much as desired.  I only covered mine lightly.

Slice your green peppers in half and then "gut" them.   I try to get all the seeds out (you can see I left some lonely seeds in there, whoops!)  Try to make them as "cup like" as possible.  In a typical stuffed pepper recipe you would only cut the top off, however, they are too large.  So, to keep an eye on portion size I cut the pepper in half.  

Mix together the turkey, feta cheese, tomatoes, spinach, almond meal, Italian dressing, and garlic.  Now fill your pepper cups with the meat mixture. 

Cover with tomato sauce and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes depending on your oven and the size of the peppers

Voila! A yummy and flavorful healthy dinner that's quick and easy! 

Enjoy!

Cheesecake for the Healthy Soul

I'm a huge advocate of eating healthy 90% of the time.  What that means is to be able to say to yourself "self, I think I deserve to have a piece of this cheesecake guilt free".  What makes those decisions even better is when you can decide that knowing that it's a little healthier for you.  Eating clean sure can take a toll on your sanity.  So indulge, and enjoy life!  
At least that's what I try to tell myself.  

Here's a great recipe that's a little indulgent without the guilt.  It's made from all natural ingredients which can be found in the organic section of your grocery store.   This is a great alternative to regular cheesecake for your romantic dinner :) 

Paleo Cheesecake!

Image and Recipe Via

1: Soak 5 cups of raw, unsalted cashews in water overnight.  Please don’t skip this step, because softening the nuts is a necessary first step to the blending process.

2.  Go to sleep.

3.  The next day, get up and ponder why some of the cashews float while others do not.  Then, gather these ingredients for the crust:

1 cup pitted dates
1 cup pecans
1 cup (or just under) flaked coconut

Place all your crust ingredients in a blender and pulse until they are breadcrumb consistency.  You should be able to press this mixture between your fingers, and it will maintain its shape. Press to the bottom of your pan only — don’t try to make the crust go up the sides.

4.  Now you are ready to make your filling!  Gather

5 cups cashews previously soaked through the night
1 cup coconut oil (melted to oil consistency by sitting jar in a warm bath)
1 cup agave nectar
2/3 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until the mixture is very creamy.   You’ll need to possibly blend, stir, and blend some more.  (I initially used the “chop” function on my blender.)  This filling needs to be super creamy without any chunks at all.  Don’t rush this step. Rather take your time and make sure it’s as creamy as possible.  

5.  Spoon all of your mixture into your springform pan on top of your newly made crust.

6.  Cover and place in the freezer overnight.  

7.  Prior to serving, let thaw about 30 minutes at room temperature.

8.  Cut into pieces and “plate” them.

9. I melted Green & Black’s 85% dark chocolate in a double boiler.  (Actually, I don’t have a double boiler, so I stuck a large metal bowl over boiling water and let the heat melt half of a chocolate gradually.)  This is intensely dark chocolate, by the way.  If you’re not into the dark chocolate flavor, you could choose raspberries or strawberries as a topping.

10.  Then, I placed the melted chocolate into a Ziplock sandwich bag and drizzled the chocolate over each slice of cake.

Enjoy! 

Almond Banana Muffins

On the Paleo Diet it's sometimes hard to find an indulgent snack or meal to eat.  Sure, I can top anything I'd like with bacon, red hot, or dark organic chocolate...  But, nothing everything tastes like a dessert.
I found this banana bread recipe that used almond flour and tried it.  I made a few substitutions so I'll list my version of the recipe here.   It came out wonderfully!  Then, I tried to make them muffins... dare I say they came out even better?

INGREDIENTS:

1 serving of cooking spray (used olive oil, vegetable oil is not paleo)

2 cups Almond Flour (Found mine in the organic section at the grocery store)

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup honey

2 ripe bananas (used bananas I had previously frozen, they were nice and black)

1 Cup of Ghirardelli Organic 60% Cacao Dark Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Spray loaf pan or muffin cups with cooking spray

2. Mix together almond flour, ground cinnamon and baking soda in a bowl. 

3. Beat two eggs in a bowl.  Mix in water, vanilla extract, honey, and mashed bananas.

4. Add Banana mixture to your dry ingredients.  Be sure there are no dry areas visible.

5. Pour into loaf pan or muffin tin.  

6. Drop chocolate chips into top of batter (they will sink to the bottom otherwise) 

**If using muffin tin, be sure to fill to just about full they do not rise like typical batter.

Loaf Bake time: 45 minutes

Muffin bake time: 25-30 minutes

Let cool, and enjoy!!