Chocolate and almond ice cream

Wanted to make something more than just chocolate ice cream so I found this recipe from Paleonewbie.

Ingredients

1 can full-fat coconut milk (400ml)

1/4 cup maple syrup or rice malt syrup

1/4 cup almond butter

2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Add all above ingredients in a blender to combine.
2. Mix in blender for about 1 minute
3. Pour into electric ice cream maker
4. Takes about 20-25 minutes to churn before it's ready to eat (or freeze for later)

Aussie splice icy poles

Another recipe that I made ages ago but I've missed it on the blog and since I struggle to actually find the recipe online I decided I should put it on here so I can easily find it next time. The recipe is from I quit sugar

Ingredients
makes about 12 icy poles

Green layer
½ avocado
1 cup/240 ml spinach
1 banana
1 cup/240 ml coconut water

Yellow layer
400 ml coconut cream
240 ml diced frozen mango

Blend all ingredients to the green layer in a blender until smooth. Pour the mixture in moulds to about half way and put them in the freezer for about maybe an hour. It should be set enough so that it doesn't mix with the next layer but not set enough so that you can't get the stick into the moulds once done (if you're using the same kind of icy pole moulds that I used).
Blend all the ingredients for the yellow layer until smooth and pour it on top of the green layer. Freeze for another couple of hours until the icy poles are frozen.

Pizza buns

I've made this recipe once before but I didn't get a chance then to put it on the blog. Second time around they're just as tasty and I was surprised (once again) about how easy they actually are to make. The recipe is from undervarttak.se.

Ingredients
makes about 12 buns

For the dough
300 ml almond flour
5 tbsp psyllium husk
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
3 egg whites
250 ml boiling water

Toppings (you can obviously alternate this with whatever you fancy)
300 ml crushed tomatoes or passata
125 g bacon
1 bunch of basil
1 egg
oregano

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
Combine all the dry ingredients for the dough in a large bowl. Separate the eggs and pour the egg whites into the bowl. Whisk together with an electric whisk. Add the water slowly and be mindful not to add too much water so the dough gets runny (depending on how big your eggs are you might not need to add all of the water). Mix together until it forms a dough. Kneed it to a big lump and put it on a sheet of baking paper. Put another sheet of baking paper on top and use a rolling pin to make a rectangle which is a few millimeters thick.
Pull away the top layer of baking paper and you can now add your tomatoes. I added some cheese on top of the tomatoes but if you want to make it completely Paleo, just leave that out. Sprinkle some oregano on top. Cut the bacon to smaller pieces and sprinkle these on top. Add the basil leaves and then roll the dough lengthwise to form a roll. Cut the roll in about 2 cm thick pieces and put them on a greased muffin tray. Whisk the egg and brush the buns before putting them in the oven for about 45 minutes. Now you have a delicious treat to bring to picnics or to the beach.

Zucchini and sun-dried tomato muffins

With a toddler going to daycare once a week, I'm trying to find recipes of good snacks to put in his lunch box for the day. I found this really nice recipe from Eatdrinkpaleo of savory muffins.

Ingredients

makes 6

1½ cup (360 ml) grated zucchini (about 2 small ones)

6 sun-dried tomatoes (not the ones in oil)

1 medium garlic clove

½ cup (120 ml) pumpkin seeds

2 eggs

2 heaped tbsp linseed meal

1/4 cup (60 ml) tapioca flour

½ tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 175 °C and grease a muffin tray with a little coconut oil.

By using your hands try to squeeze the grated zucchini to remove as much of the juice as possible. Add it to a mixing bowl.

Put the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and pumpkin seeds to a food processor. Process until ground and incorporated. Transfer to the bowl with the grated zucchini.

Add eggs, linseed meal, tapioca, onion powder, salt and baking powder to the mix and combine together very well.

Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin casings and place in the middle of the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool completely before removing from the tray. 

Paleo barbecue sauce

I wanted to make some pulled pork and most recipes had barbecue sauce in them so I decided to find a good recipe and make some sauce myself. Civilized caveman had a good recipe and I had all the ingredients at home. I only put in the chunks of the pineapple and not the juice since I wanted to save that for a drink later.

Ingredients
makes about 500 ml
1½ tomatoes, diced
½ onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
250-300 g tomato paste
120 ml beef stock
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
½ tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp paprika powder
½ tsp sea salt
½-1 tsp cayenne pepper (all depending on how hot you want it)
230 g can of diced pineapple (without added sugar and other additives)

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized pot and place it over medium heat while stirring frequently. Once the sauce starts to boil, reduce the heat to low. Cover and let it simmer for about 1 hour. Make sure to check it and stir it every now and again so that it doesn't burn. Once the simmering is done, place the sauce in a blender, food processor or use a hand mixer (this is what I did) and run until you have a smooth consistency.

Paleo muesli

Being pregnant makes you hungry, that's something pretty certain. And I'm especially hungry when I wake up in the morning and I don't always feel like eggs so I decided that muesli would be a good and easy thing to just grab in the morning together with some fruit and almond milk. I found this recipe on Paleo Cupboard. I didn't want it that sweet so I only used half the amount of honey. I think it might've turned out a bit crunchier if I used all the honey but I'm very happy with the result.

Ingredients
240 ml raw almonds
120 ml raw cashews
120 ml raw walnuts
60 ml raw pepitas/pumpkin seeds
60 ml raw sunflower seeds
60 ml unsweetened coconut flakes
60 ml coconut oil
120 ml honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
raisins/sultanas

Preheat the oven to 135 degrees Celsius. Place the almonds, cashews, walnuts and coconut flakes in a food processor and pulse a few times to break into smaller chunks. Put in a medium sized bowl together with the seeds.
Heat up the coconut oil, honey and vanilla extract in a pot on low heat  until completely combined. Add this to the seeds, nuts and coconut flakes and stir to coat.
Spread the muesli mixture evenly on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat, add the raisins and sprinkle with salt and mix around a bit. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes or until hardened. Then break apart and keep in a jar with a tight lid.

Soft and gooey chocolate brownie

I've been trying to find recipes of food, snacks and sweets that are good to freeze so that when the baby comes we can always just go to the freezer because we probably won't have the energy or time to cook every night and we don't want to get take-out all the time. So I'm trying to prepare as much as possible while I'm not working. I found this recipe on paleogrubs.com and it's a super easy recipe with not that many ingredients and it's pretty much like a normal chocolate cake/brownie.

Ingredients
makes about 10 brownies/1 round cake
240 ml almond butter
80 ml maple syrup
1 egg
2 tbsp melted ghee
1 tsp vanilla
80 ml cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. In a large bowl, whisk together the almond butter, maple syrup, egg, ghee and vanilla. Stir in the cocoa powder and baking soda gently.
Pour the batter into a 22 cm baking pan (I used a round one).
Bake for 20-23 minutes, until the brownie is done, but still soft in the middle.
Let cool and enjoy by itself or with some berries and cream.

Slow cooker shredded chicken

Making dishes in a slow cooker is so easy. You just put everything in and let it do it's thing while you go ahead with your day as usual. You barely have to check it during the time at all. And the result for this dish was great; so happy with it. Thank you LivingLovingPaleo!

Ingredients

serves 3-4

about 900 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 medium onion, diced

1 capsicum, diced

2 medium tomatoes, diced (about 240 ml)

6 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

Add all of the ingredients to your slow cooker and stir well. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks.

I served ours with some sweet potato chips, coleslaw, cucumber, guacamole and ranch dressing.

Cinnamon sugar cookies

I've looked at this recipe for a while now and been wanting to make them but didn't get around to it. I decided today was a good day to do some baking so I went ahead and made them. They really are delicious and super simple to make.

Ingredients
makes about 25 cookies
480 ml almond flour
120 ml coconut flour
120 ml coconut sugar (plus about 60 ml for rolling in)
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
7 tbsp grass-fed butter, melted
60 ml maple syrup
1 egg, whisked
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line an oven tray with baking paper.
Combine almond flour, coconut flour, coconut sugar (120 ml), cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
Combine butter, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract in a another large mixing bowl.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to wet, mixing until they are all well combined.
Roll the dough into balls about 2,5 cm in diameter.
Roll each ball in the additional 60 ml coconut sugar to lightly cover.
Place on tray and press down lightly to flatten a little. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 12-14 minutes, there should to be a soft center.

Banana bread with chia seeds

Got in the mood to bake something easy and delicious yesterday and found this recipe. It turned out that I had all the ingredients at home so I decided to start baking. It turned out extremely well.

Ingredients
makes 1 loaf/serves 12
400 g ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
6 eggs
4-6 fresh pitted dates (depending on size)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
60 ml coconut oil
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
120 ml coconut flour
60 ml chia seed
2 tbsp protein powder - optional

Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius.
Combine banana, dates, oil, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs and baking powder in a food processor and blend until creamy and combined. Add the coconut flour and chia seeds and mix through.
Rest for about 10 minutes to allow the chia seeds and coconut flour to expand.
Lightly oil one loaf tin and line with baking paper.
Add the batter to the tin. Decorate with some shredded coconut and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Bake for about 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre will come out dry.

Fish and tomato soup

This recipe is from a Swedish website tasteline.se. The original recipe has saffron in it but I'm not a huge fan of saffron so I skipped that and added some other ingredients as well. I was very happy with the result.

Ingredients
serves 4
2 red onions
3-4 garlic cloves
½ red chili
2 carrots
1 capsicum
4 broccolini stalks
500 ml tomato passata
200 ml stock (I used beef because that's what I had at home)
400 ml water
1 bay leaf
400-500 g fish (I used 200 g salmon and 250 g white fish)
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste

Slice the carrots and cut the capsicum and broccolini into bite-size pieces. Put aside for now.
Chop the onion and finely chop the garlic and chili. Heat up a large pot over medium heat and add some grease (I used ghee). Fry the onion, garlic and chili for a couple of minutes. Add the other veggies together with the passata, stock, water and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.
Cut the fish into smaller pieces and add this to the soup. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne.

Chicken and bacon rice bowl

This recipe was very simple and quick for a weekday dinner. I found it on Paleomg.

Ingredients
serves 3-4
4 rashes of bacon, cut into smaller pieces
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
4 chicken thigh fillets, skinless and boneless, chopped to bit-size pieces
3 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 small head of cauliflower, grated
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
avocado and spring onion to serve

Add pieces of bacon to a pot over medium heat and cook until crispy then remove and set aside on paper towel. Leave behind the bacon grease to cook the rest in.
Add garlic cloves, onion and chicken. Sprinkle with a bit of salt. Cook until chicken is almost cooked through. Then add your chopped tomatoes and cauliflower. Mix well. Add a good amount of salt then add chili powder and red pepper flakes. Mix well, place heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 10 minutes. When done simmering, mix in bacon pieces into the rice mixture.
Place in bowl, garnish with a bit of salt and pepper, avocado and spring onions.

Chocolate hazelnut cupcakes

I have found a new love for hazelnuts. They're just so delicious. I found this recipe on a Swedish blog and just had to try them because they sounded really tasty. They absolutely were!

Ingredients
makes 12
10 pitted dates
200 ml hazelnut flour
100 ml shredded coconut
50 ml melted coconut oil
4 tbsp cocoa
½ tbsp honey
2 tsp vanilla powder
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Grease a muffin tray with coconut oil.
Mix dates, hazelnut flour and shredded coconut in a food processor. Pour in the melted coconut oil together with cocoa, vanilla powder and honey and mix again. Add the eggs and baking powder and mix until it's a smooth batter. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin trays and put in the oven for about 7 minutes. To get a sticky effect, keep them in the fridge for approximately 45 minutes before serving.

Served with coconut cream and strawberries

Paleo butter chicken

We made this recipe for the first time a few weeks ago but I didn't get a chance to put the recipe up that time. We made it again tonight and it was just as tasty as last time. Thanks to myheartbeets.com we've found one of our new favourite dishes. We served this with some Paleo naan.

Ingredients
serves 4
Marinade
approximately 600 g chicken thighs (boneless and skinless), cut into smaller pieces
120 ml coconut cream
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ tsp Garam Masala
¼ tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

Curry
2 tbsp ghee
1 onion, chopped
2,5 cm ginger, minced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, cut into thick matchsticks
100 g green beans, halved
450 ml tomato passata
200 ml coconut milk, full fat
1 tsp garam masala
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp coriander powder
salt and pepper to taste
fresh coriander for garnish

Place chicken pieces in a bowl and marinate with coconut cream and spices, set aside.
Add ghee to a pan on medium heat. Once ghee melts, add onions and cook until completely dark golden-brown but be careful not to burn them (this will take about 15-20 minutes).
Add ginger and garlic and saute for a few more minutes.
Add spices and let them fry off for a minute. Then add your chicken mixture and briefly stir-fry.
Add passata, carrot and beans, and cover your pan. Let everything simmer for about 12-15 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and let it simmer for another few minutes.
Garnish with coriander and serve with Paleo naan.

Paleo naan bread

Simple and delicious naan bread from myheartbeets.com to serve with your favourite Indian dishes.

Ingredients
makes 2
120 ml almond flour
120 ml tapioca flour
240 ml coconut milk, full fat
salt
ghee, to fry in

Mix all the ingredients together.
Heat a 24 cm nonstick pan over medium heat and grease with some ghee. Pour half the batter in the pan.
Once the batter fluffs up and looks firm/mostly cooked, flip it over to cook the other side; this can take some time so be patient.

Super simple and delicious coconut ice cream

Once again I got this recipe from Paleomg. I wanted to make some ice cream sandwiches with the cookies I made yesterday and I found that recipe. We modified the recipe slightly but they still turned out to be superdelicious and the ice cream by itself is really nice.

Ingredients
1 can full fat coconut milk (about 400 ml)
120 ml maple syrup
120 ml almond butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Place all ingredients for your ice cream in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk until completely mixed together, don't overheat. Then place in the freezer for about 30 minutes or until completely cooled.
Add mixture to your ice cream maker and turn on.
Once ice cream has thickened, eat straight away by itself or if using it for ice cream sandwiches; place it in a container and in the freezer to harden up a bit more before putting it on the cookies.

Soft and chewy spice cookies with molasses

I think Paleomg has some of the best dessert and treat recipes out there. This is the second time I try one of her cookie recipe and they turned out great.

Ingredients
makes about 18 cookies
2 eggs, whisked
240 ml almond butter
60 ml molasses
120 ml coconut sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
60 ml coconut flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour/arrowroot starch
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Mix eggs, almond butter and molasses in a large bowl.
In a medium sized bowl mix together coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, coconut flour, tapioca, baking soda and salt. Pour half of the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix well. Then add the rest and mix until completely combined.
Line an oven tray with baking paper and scoop about tablespoon sized cookie dough drops on to the baking sheet. This should make about 18 cookies so you may need to use 2 oven trays.
Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until cookies are firm on the top.

Roast vegetable soup with leftover roast chicken

Last night we had roast chicken for dinner. Since it's just the two of us we normally don't eat a whole chicken. So I found this great recipe from Against all grain which uses leftover roasted chicken in a soup. It was also super easy to make

Ingredients
serves 3-4
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, peeled and cubed
700 ml peeled and cubed butternut pumpkin (about 1/3 of a big one)
1 small onion, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
1 liter chicken stock
leftover roasted chicken, shredded
½ red chili, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp dried parsley
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried rosemary
½ tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
240 ml water
480 ml baby spinach

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Celsius.
Prepare all the vegetables and toss them in the olive oil (include the garlic cloves). Roast in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
While the veggies are in the oven, bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a large pot. Add the chicken, chili, herbs, salt and pepper. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes.
Add half the roasted veggies to the soup and place the other half in a blender together with 240 ml of water. Make sure to put all the onion pieces in the blender. Blend until you have a smooth puree.
Add the vegetable puree and spinach to the soup and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and all of the soup is hot.

Chocolate, hazelnut and salted caramel tart

I've been wanting to make this tart for a few weeks now but I just haven't had the energy to do it until now. It was definitely worth it. I'm so proud of the result. Don't think I've ever managed to make something so pretty. The recipe is originally from the Merrymaker sisters' book but I've used the one on EatDrinkPaleo. It wasn't actually even that difficult to make and I've forgotten how good hazelnuts are.

Ingredients
For the crust:
360 ml almond flour
240 ml raw hazelnuts
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted or soft
1 egg
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla essence

For the caramel layer:
150 pitted dates (soaked in boiling water for at least 10 minutes)
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted or soft
1 tsp vanilla essence
240 ml coconut cream (coconut milk is fine too)
1 tsp sea salt

For the chocolate layer:
100 g coconut oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp cacao powder
2 tbsp crushed nuts of your choice for decoration

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a tart tin (mine was 26 cm in diameter but smaller should work as well).
Begin with toasting the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Swirl around frequently so that they don't burn but get a nice brown colour on all sides. Remove and let cool for a few minutes.
Place the hazelnuts in a food processor and grind into a fine flour (should take about a minute). Add the almond flour, coconut oil, egg, maple syrup and vanilla. Process until the mixture comes together.
Scoop the mixture out and make it to a ball. Place it and flatten it with a rolling pin in between two sheets of baking paper. Roll out by starting from the middle and roll out to the sides in each direction until it's about a 3-5 mm thick. Peel the top layer of baking paper off and flip the base over the tart tin. It's quite delicate so be careful. Mine broke quite a bit so I had to fill in the gaps when it was in the tin but that worked fine as well. Make sure the area where the sides and base meet are filled properly, preferably they need to be a bit thicker. Place a round sheet of baking paper to cover the base of the crust and put on baking beads (I used uncooked rice since I don't own any baking beads). Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, remove the baking paper with the beads or rice and bake for another 10 minutes or until it's golden brown. Set aside to cool in the tin.
For the caramel filling; Drain the water from the pitted dates. Place them in a food processor together with coconut oil and vanilla and process until the form a thick paste. Add the coconut cream and salt and process again until it's smooth (should take about a minute, scrapping down the sides as you go). Spread the caramel filling over the crust and place in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes.
For the chocolate layer; place coconut oil, honey and vanilla in a double boiler (a bowl placed over a pot of simmering water) and melt until combined. Add the cacao powder and whisk until it's smooth, probably only about 30 seconds, make sure not to overcook it. Take your base out of the freezer and pour the chocolate mixture over the caramel and spread with a spatula. Sprinkle with the crushed nuts and place in the freezer for another 5 minutes or so.

Serve with some whipped coconut cream or berries of your choice.
Leftovers can be stored covered in the fridge for about 5 days.

Chewy double chocolate cookies

This cookies are sooo good and easy to make. I wouldn't say they're healthy considering they have quite a lot of coconut sugar in them but compared to the alternatives in the store they are much better. I love Paleomg for putting up the recipe for these beauties.

Ingredients
makes about 13-15 cookies
240 ml thick almond butter (make sure it's not too oily)
240 ml coconut sugar
1 egg, whisked
120 ml unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
60-120 ml chopped dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
In a large bowl, mix together almond butter and coconut sugar using a large spoon. Then add the egg and mix again until well combined.
Add 60 ml cocoa powder at a time. It's probably easier to use your hands from now on since the batter is quick thick. Add all the cocoa powder and completely combine.
Then add baking soda, vanilla, salt and chopped chocolate. Combine until everything is well mixed.
Scoop out around 2 tablespoons of dough and make into a round ball. Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper. This dough will create about 13-15 cookies that size.
Use a fork to press the cookies down just slightly. Don't press them down too much because they’ll come apart when they bake so be careful.
Place them into the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let them cool for about 5-10 minutes before removing them from the baking paper as they can easily come apart when they're hot.
Enjoy!!