Monthly Archives: December 2015

Date Sweetened Spice Muffins (Nut Free, Dairy Free, AIP Paleo)

There is a new kid in town, and it is Tigernut Flour. I used it in a previous recipe here and am really liking it. It is not a nut at all but a tuber, and it acts as a prebiotic. Tigernut Flour has been around for over 4,000 years, and contains nutritional benefits like phosphorous, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and vitamins E and C.

I have been experimenting with it in the kitchen during the last month, because I am all of a sudden reacting to nuts and nut flours. 😦 I also have found it is a good idea to rotate my food to avoid developing any other sensitivities. Also, after being almost two years free of SIBO and following a Low FodMap diet, I slowly added in safe starches to improve gut motility and feed the good bacteria I have been working so hard on. I was pleasantly surprised to find everything improved, and the SIBO did not return. I have been using Tapioca Starch, Arrowroot, and eating White Rice occasionally, all with very positive results.

Since I started my blog to empower myself to eat delicious foods on a restricted diet, the blog is evolving, as I have healed and have added in new ingredients, always seeking optimal health, energy and just plain feeling good. The addition of starches not only has helped my overall digestive system (in moderation), but is also helpful post workout for me!

All that aside, this recipe took some time, and I had some flops, but I have to say, I am very, very happy with the results here! It is a muffin that is dense, with a pleasing, (not gummy, ewwww!) texture. The muffins are sweetened with just dates and have other whole foods in them like carrots, green plaintains, coconut oil and applesauce. I could eat them every day.

Date Sweetened Spice Muffins (Nut & Egg Free, AIP Paleo

This recipe makes 16 muffins. They freeze well also!

Date Sweetened Spice Muffins

Preheat your oven to 350º degrees. Line two muffin pans with 16 paper liners and set aside.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Dried Medjool Dates (about 8 large, soaked in warm water for ten minutes, pits removed)

2 1/2 Cups Shredded Carrots

2 Green Plantains (Difficulty finding plantains, Walmart has them. Plantains are cheap!)

1/2 Cup Applesauce (no sugar added, preferably organic)

1/2 Cup Tigernut Flour

1/4 Cup Coconut Flour

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (melted)

2 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder (homemade corn free recipe here)

1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves

1/4 Teaspoon Mace (or Nutmeg may be substituted if not AIP they are very similar)

Directions: In a food processor, puree the green, peeled plaintains, that have been cut into chunks, with the applesauce and dates (drained after soaking) until very smooth, about three to five minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together your dry ingredients. Add the carrots to the pureed plantain mixture and puree until smooth. Add in the dry ingredients and melted coconut oil. Pulse until thoroughly incorporated.

Scoop into the muffin papers with a muffin scoop.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes until the muffins spring back when touched with the tip of your finger. I used a convection oven, so the cook time is a little shorter than a conventional oven. Remove from muffin tin and cool on a wire rack.

Wishing you and yours a very Happy and Blessed New Year!

Not recommended for those with SIBO

Homemade DIY Corn Free Baking Powder

baking powder

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Cream of Tartar

1/4 Cup of Baking Soda

1/4 Cup Arrowroot Powder

Whisk together and store in tightly sealed container.

No Bake Peppermint Ice Caps

Ready for a yummy no bake recipe? Try these little two bite no bakes using mini muffin cups! Little hands can help make them.

They are ready in a jiffy!

No Bake Peppermint Ice Caps Collage

No Bake Peppermint Ice Caps

Directions: Line a mini muffin pan with 18 mini muffin papers.

Bottom Layer Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Coconut Butter, (Softened in the Microwave for 30 seconds)

1/4 Cup Carob Powder

2 Tablespoons Maple Sugar

2 Tablespoons Coconut Milk

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, Melted

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract, Alcohol Free for AIP

Blend the ingredients together with a hand-held electric mixer. Using a teaspoon cookie scoop, scoop and roll the mixture into balls. Then, press into the bottom of each mini muffin cup. If the mixture is soft at this point, freeze for 20 minutes before proceeding so you can press the top layer evenly onto the bottom. This will depend on how much you soften your coconut butter.

Top Layer:

1/2 Cup Coconut Butter (Warmed in the microwave for 30 seconds)

1 Tablespoon of Maple Sugar

1/8 Teaspoon of Peppermint Extract, Alcohol Free for AIP I use this

Blend together with a hand-held electric mixer. Scoop into scant 1 teaspoon balls and roll between your hands. Press onto the top of the bottom layer, and gently pat to the edges of the mini muffin cup.

Refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve.

Store in the refrigerator, or at room temperature.

Make 18

This recipe is part of the Phoenix Helix AIP Recipe Roundtable Roundup here!

Paleo AIP Recipe Roundtable

Thin and Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies

Thin, Chewy Cookies are one of my favorites! I like all kinds of textures in cookies…..Cakey, Crunchy, Thick, Thin, Puffy…..those are just some of the variety of textures cookies can have. Then there is the shape! When you think about it, cookie possibilities are endless, thus the huge number of cookbooks dedicated to cookies alone.

Really, the types of cookies you choose to make, when in the mood, also depends on what kind of time you want to put into them and the level of creativity you are feeling. These cookies are fast and satisfying, pretty, chewy, and sweet with maple sugar and honey. The honey makes them chewy!

Thin and Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies

The Thin & Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies also have coconut oil in them, for some good fat, and I used tigernut flour, which is one of my new favorites! Tigernut flour contains some protein, fiber, and resistant starch making it a natural prebiotic to feed good gut flora. It also gives baked items stability and structure. It is not a nut at all! It is an ancient root vegetable! You can find it here.

Thin & Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350º degrees.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Tapioca Flour

1/2 Cup Tigernut Flour

1/4 Cup Maple Sugar, plus extra for rolling

1 Tablespoon Arrowroot Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder (corn and aluminum free recipe here at Whole New Mom)

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1/4 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil (gently melted if solid)

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract (alcohol free for AIP Paleo)

Directions: Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl with a whisk.

With an electric hand-held mixer, beat in the coconut oil until crumbly. Add the honey and vanilla and blend thoroughly. Scoop balls of dough onto a parchement lined baking sheet with a tablespoon cookie scoop. Roll the balls between your hands and then into extra maple sugar to coat. Space 2 generous inches apart onto two cookie sheets lined with parchment.

Bake in your preheated oven 11 to 14 minutes until golden. They will spread, so leave space between the cookies.

Thin and Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies on Baking Tray

Cool completely before removing from cookie sheet.

Thin and Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies

*felt ornaments in the photo hand sewn by me! 🙂

This recipe is not recommended for those with SIBO. This recipe was part of Phoenix Helix AIP Recipe Rountable #195 here.

Paleo AIP Recipe Roundtable

Thin and Chewy AIP Paleo Maple Sugar Cookies! Delicious!!!

Versatile Eat Your Veggies NoMato Sauce

This sauce is the bomb! My twenty year old son, Jeffrey, has a hard time eating vegetables, and he didn’t even know the amount of vegetables he was consuming when I used this sauce instead of tomato sauce in my Bolognese recipe last week. In fact, all four of the other family members sat down to dinner and inhaled the sauce.

Eat Your Veggies Tomato Sauce Collage

If you are eating nightshade free and miss tomatoes, this is a very versatile tomato sauce that tastes exactly like tomato sauce with a lovely full bodied consistency, but a little thicker. So, it could be used as a tomato paste substitute, or thinned down with extra broth. If tomatoes aren’t a problem for you, this is a way to get more vegetables into your meals with ease and a flavor punch.

Versatile Eat Your Veggies “Tomato” Sauce

The total time to make this sauce is about an hour and a half. It makes 3 1/2 cups. I like to jar the sauce in one cup containers and freeze what I am not using for later convenience. Doubling the recipe takes very little extra time, and gives you more to freeze for later.

Use this sauce straight from the jar, or use it in your favorite tomato sauce recipes measure for measure. I currently have on my list of recipes to develop with this sauce, pizza and enchiladas! The sky is the limit! Here’s the recipe:

Versatile Eat Your Veggies “Tomato” Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Cups Carrots, Peeled and Chopped

1/2 Cup Shallots, Peeled and Sliced

1 1/4 Cups Red Beets, Peeled and Diced

1 1/2 Cups Red Onion, Peeled and Diced

1/2 Cup Celery, Chopped

2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

2 Cups Broth (Chicken, Bone Broth or Vegetable Broth)

1/2 Cup Aged Balsamic (I love this 18 Year Old, No Sugar Added, High Quality Balsamic)

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon of Anchovies (Umami Guys! Don’t skip it!)

1 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 Teaspoon Onion Powder

1 Teaspoon Turmeric

1 Teaspoon Dried Parsley

1 Teaspoon Dried Basil

1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Mace

1 Bay Leaf

Directions: Place 1/4 Cup of olive oil in a heavy stock pot over medium high heat. Add the Anchovy, and stir until it almost melts into the oil. Add the prepared vegetables, and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, mix all the herbs, mace and salt together in a small bowl. After the vegetables have cooked for five minutes, add the seasoning, and stir for one minute. Add the broth, bay leaf and balsamic. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.

Remove bay leaf. Add all the ingredients to a high speed immersion blender, and blend until very smooth.

Place the sauce in jars and use within three days in the refrigerator, or freeze for later.

I would love to hear how you are using this sauce in your recipes! Stay tuned for more recipes with this sauce coming soon!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Iced Orange Sweet Rolls

‘Tis the Season when I want to enjoy a treat! These rolls are purely indulgent and reminiscent of carefree days, my Mother’s baking, and sharing a decadent breakfast on a cold winter’s day.

Coconut Orange Sweet Rolls Ready to Eat

Times have changed for me since then. Who knew I would grow up and have food intolerances. But as hard as it was in the beginning to transition to a new way of eating, after almost four years of eating gluten free and then a grain free, Paleo diet, I never would have imagined food in it’s true form is what I have come to crave, what tastes really good to me, and is what makes me feel so great! These rolls satisfy all my indulgence dreams, and as a previous artisan bread baker, they are a great creative outlet. I adore handling dough……I know a little weird, but it is art therapy to me! 🙂

Orange Iced Sweet Rolls AIP Paleo Coconut Flour

I love this recipe, and I hope you do too! 🙂 It is a hit with my children for sure!

Iced Orange Sweet Rolls

Preheat the oven to 350º degrees. Lay out a parchment lined baking sheet.

The Bun Dough Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Tapioca Flour

1/2 Cup of Tigernut Flour (Read More about Tigernut Flour in this article by Lauren of Empowered Sustenance)

1/2 Cup of Coconut Flour

1/2 Cup of Applesauce (No Sugar Added)

1/4 Cup of Clear Honey

1/4 Cup of Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

1/4 Cup of Organic Shortening

1/4 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Cream of Tartar

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Directions: In a food processor, add all the dry ingredients. (Tapioca, Tigernut, Coconut Flours, Salt, Cream of Tartar and Baking Soda). Pulse a few times to blend. Add the shortening and pulse to get pea sized pieces in the flour. Add the wet ingredients and process until completely combined and coming together in a ball. Remove from the food processor and form a ball with the dough. Lay the dough out between to pieces of cookie sheet sized parchment paper, and roll into a rectangle until the dough is 1/2 inch thick.

Filling Ingredients:

1 Cup of Medjool Dates, Soaked for ten minutes in warm water and pits removed

1/4 Cup of Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

1/4 Teaspoon of Orange Zest

1/8 Teaspoon of Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract (No Alcohol for AIP Friendly)

1/8 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Pulse all the ingredients together in the same food processor you made the dough in. No need to wash the processor. Spread the filling to within a quarter inch of the prepared, rolled dough.

Coconut Orange Sweet Roll Dough Spread with Filling

Taking the edges of the parchment as a guide, roll up the buns on the long side. It should look like this.

Ready to Slice Coconut Orange Sweet Rolls

Slice the buns into twelve even pieces with a serrated knife.

Place on your prepared, parchment lined baking sheet. Like this:

Coconut Orange Sweet Rolls Ready to Bake

Bake in your preheated oven for 18 minutes, until the buns are starting to brown.

Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting. Icing Recipe Below!

Coconut Orange Sweet Rolls Ready to Frost

Sweet Coconut Orange Rolls Icing

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Coconut Butter

2 Tablespoons of Honey

2 Teaspoons of Tapioca Flour

1/8 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

With a hand held mixer, mix all the ingredients until creamy. Spread it on the cooled rolls. They are ready!

Coconut Orange Sweet Rolls Inside Frosted

Iced Orange Sweet Rolls are the perfect treat! Paleo, AIP and Gluten Free

Makes 12 Rolls.

Eat Your Nutrients!

Baked Proscuitto Topped Tilapia with Parsnip, Leek, Celeriac Mash

Are you looking to get more seafood into your weekly meals? Here is a flavorful, moist, and easy way to make fish that is pretty enough to serve for company, and fast enough to make for a weeknight meal!

Baked Proscuitto Topped Tilapia with Parsnip, Leek, Celeriac Mash

I like to serve the fish on top of a mound of Parslied Parsnip, Leek, Celeriac Mash. They go perfectly together! Find the recipe below!

Baked Proscuitto Topped Talapia

Ingredients:

9 Talapia Filets

3 Oz. Proscuitto (I used this one with just pork and sea salt in the ingredients)

3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 Teaspoon Parsley

Preheat the oven to 350º degrees. On two parchment lined cookie sheets, lay out the filets. Brush them with olive oil top and bottom. Mix the sea salt, garlic powder and parsley together in a small bowl, and rub all over the fish top and bottom. Lay one thin piece of proscuitto on top of each seasoned fish filet. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes or until the thickest part of the fish reaches 145º degrees.

Place the fish atop Parslied Parsnip, Leek, Celeriac Mash, (recipe below) or serve with your favorite sides.

Baked Proscuitto Topped Tilapia with Parslied Parsnip, Leek, Celeriac Mash

Parslied Parsnip, Leek, Celeriac Mash

Ingredients:

2 Large Parsnips

2 Leeks

1 Celeriac Root

2 Scallions, diced

1 Cup Bone Broth or Chicken Broth

1/4 Cup Coconut Milk (Full Fat no additives. I use this brand.)

2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1 Teaspoon Parsley, plus more for garnishing

Directions:

Peel and Large Dice the Parsnips, Leeks, Celeriac Root and Scallions. Add Olive oil to a heavy, 5 1/2 quart, coated cast iron pan. I used this one, which I can’t live without! 🙂 Add the vegetables and sea salt, and sautee over medium high heat, uncovered, for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook the vegetables for 15 minutes until fork tender.

Scoop the vegetables and broth hot into a food processor. Add the parsley and coconut milk, and puree until smooth. Place in a serving bowl, and sprinkle with additional dried parsley.

I suggest getting the vegetable mash started first, and then prepping the fish and baking it. Everything will then be ready at the same time for serving.

Yum! Delicious!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Paleo Pizzelle Cookies

I am delighted to have created a Grain Free version of one of my favorite cookies…..Pizzelles!

Pizzelle Cookies Paleo Style!

The first time I had these was when I was a child, and I was not gluten free. We had a neighbor from Italy, and his mother came over from “the old country” for a visit and brought her pizzelle maker with her. I was wowed by the cookie! They are delicately crispy and have an intricate pattern. I had never had anything like them, and my own mother started making them every year for the holidays.

Every year at Christmas since having to give up grains, I have missed these cookies! Whether you are gluten and grain free or not, I think you will love them! You do need a special pizzelle maker that you can find here. But it is a great addition to you kitchen if you love cookies!

Paleo Pizzelle Cookies

Preheat your pizzelle maker by plugging it in while you mix up the cookies.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Super Fine Almond Flour

1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch

1/4 Cup Maple Sugar

2 Tablespoons Arrowroot Flour

2 Tablespoons of Organic Shortening

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Anise (Omit for a Vanilla Pizzelle)

2 Eggs

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Directions: Mix the almond flour, tapioca starch, maple sugar, arrowroot, anise and sea salt together in a medium bowl with a whisk. In a seperate bowl whisk together the eggs, melted shortening and vanilla extract. With an hand held electric mixer, blend the wet ingredients into the dry until it holds together and is thoroughly blended.

With a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough onto the pizelle maker, like this:

Pizzelle Cookie Dough Ready to Press

Close the hot pizzelle maker, and press the dough firmly to spread it. Set a timer for two minutes, when the timer is done open the press gently, and remove the cookies with the tines of a fork to loosen them from the press carefully. If the press doesn’t easily open, wait a few more seconds. Cool on a wire rack, and repeat until all the cookies are made.