Honey-Lime Roast Chicken

Slightly modified from The Food Network's recipe found here:  Honey-Lime Roast Chicken

Ingredients: 

1 small bunch fresh thyme

Juice of 2 limes

4 cloves garlic, smashed

3 jalapeno peppers, halved, seeded and thinly sliced

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

Salt

6-8 chicken thighs

Directions:

1. Strip the thyme leaves from the stems; combine the leaves and stems with the lime juice, garlic, jalapenos, olive oil, honey and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Cover and marinate 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.

2. Preheat to 425 degrees F. 

3.  Put the chicken, skin-side up, on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Pour the marinade on top and season with salt.

4. Roast the chicken, basting with the pan juices halfway through, until the skin is amber and a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 160 degrees F, about 45 minutes. 

5.  Transfer to a platter and top with the pan juices.

Paleo Chocolate Cake

Paleo Chocolate Cake

   1 cup creamy roasted almond butter
   2 large organic eggs
   1/3 cup melted organic extra virgin coconut oil
   1/3 cup pure maple syrup
   1/4 cup cocoa powder
   2 teaspoons vanilla
   1/2 teaspoon baking soda
   1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8-inch pan with coconut oil.

Place all ingredients into a food processor or heavy duty blender until combined. Pour into the pan and spread out evenly. Bake for about 30 minutes. Cool, slice, and serve.

We thought this might be more brownie-like if we cooked it with slightly less time.

Original recipe link:

http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2012/03/accidental-chocolate-cake-grain-free.html

Paleo Chocolate Topping

   1 can full-fat coconut milk chilled overnight

   1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp cocoa powder or cacao powder

   1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

   sweetener to taste (I used maple syrup)

Open your chilled coconut milk and transfer only the thick (fairly hard) creamy part to a bowl or mixer, leaving the watery part out. Whip in your cocoa, vanilla, and sweetener.  Stored uncovered in the fridge, the mixture gets even thicker.

We thought this tasted a little like chocolate ice-cream so thought it would be nice to use in an ice cream maker after blended.  It’s very pudding-like initially.

 Original recipe link:

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/16/chocolate-frosting-shots/

Paleo No-Bake Carrot Cake

By Sereina:

I only remember having carrot cake a few time in my life, but for the past year I've been wanting to make one. It had been a long time and I still hadn't made it, so now that I'm dairy-free and not eating sugar I decided to look for a Paleo recipe. I found this on on Google and it is so good! It wasn't till I made it that I realized it was a no-bake recipe. There's no flour and it's sweetened with dates. And the frosting on it? It's made with cashews, yet it tastes so good.

Paleo No-Bake Carrot Cake
via Betty Rawker

Ingredients:

1 cup grated carrot

1 cup raw walnuts

1 cup (about 9) medjool dates, pitted

1 cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice seasoning

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Frosting:
1 cup raw cashews
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon water
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Put the carrots in a Vitamix for food processor and mix until shredded. Scoop into a large bowl.

2. Puree 1 cup walnuts in the Vitamix for food processor  Add in mejool dates and then blend into a paste. Add to the bowl with the grated carrots.

3. Add the shredded coconut and stir/mash until combined.  Then add the vanilla, five spice, and walnuts, if using them. Mix until well incorporated.

4. Shape the carrot cake with your hands onto a plate. Chill in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.

5. Blend all of the frosting ingredients together in the Vitamix for food processor until smooth and combined. Add more water if needed. Chill in the fridge until the cake is done, then frost the cake.

Paleo Snickerdoodles

These cookies don't taste exactly like regular sinckerdoodles, but they're still really good! With the texture, we decided that they're like donut holes. They're really easy to make and the hardest part is letting them chill in the fridge for an hour. The nutmeg almost makes them taste like eggnog, so they'll be really good for the Christmas season too. Recipe found here.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of almond meal
• 1 tbs of coconut flour
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon + extra for rolling dough in
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/4 tsp of sea salt

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well.
2. Cover the cookie dough and place in the fridge to chill for one hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Roll the cookies into small balls and coat in cinnamon.
5. Use the bottom of a cup or jar to flatten them out.
6. Place cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Hot Pumpkin Nog

Being that I am dairy free I have been been craving a yummy egg nog the last few holiday seasons... I am still looking for that, but this recipe sure hit the "nog" craving with the added pumpkin (of which I am pretty much the only one in my family that likes pumpkin).

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 T Coconut Oil (Organic extra virgin)

2 T Honey (I used organic raw honey)

1/4 tsp salt (I use Himalayan)

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (I use Trader Joe’s)

1/2 cup pumpkin (I used canned organic)

 2 cups hot coconut milk (I steamed mine)

Ground Nutmeg (optional)

Put all ingredients into blender in order shown then blend.

Pour into a mug and sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.

Enjoy!

It's yummy cold too!!!

Lemon Chia Seed Muffins

This is a recipe that my daughter, Tiana, and I came up with together.  She is currently challenging both gluten and dairy and I am challenging "all" grains, so this recipe fit for the both us perfectly.  The rest of the family likes them, so they are a hit for all.

Ingredients:

½ C Coconut Flour

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Baking Soda

6 Eggs

½ Cup Raw Honey (can use maple syrup)

½ Cup Grape Seed Oil (or something similar)

2 T Lemon Zest

Juice of the lemon used for zest

2 T Chia Seeds

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. 

In a large bowl mix eggs, honey, oil, zest, lemon juice.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stirring to blend well, removing lumps.

Fold in chia seeds.

Fill muffin cups ¾ full and bake for 15-20 minutes, test with a toothpick for doneness.

Makes about 16 regular sized muffins

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In case you didn't know...

Chia is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids.  Chia seeds also provide fiber (25 grams give you 6.9 grams of fiber) as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc.  Another advantage: when added to water and allowed to sit for 30 minutes, chia forms a gel. Researchers suggest that this reaction also takes place in the stomach, slowing the process by which digestive enzymes break down carbohydrates and convert them into sugar.