Carrot protein slices

I've made this recipe once before but I never put it up on the blog because the result wasn't that good. This time it turned out so much better. I love these! Perfect as a snack. The recipe is from paleomg.com. I used a slightly bigger dish than the recipe so I got 12 slices but they were much thinner and therefore I only cooked them in the oven for about 25 minutes. I also excluded the raisins because I'm not a huge fan.

Ingredients
makes about 8 slices
2 large carrots, finely shredded
160 ml almond butter
2 eggs
3 tbsp honey
35 grams of whey protein powder (vanilla flavoured or unflavoured)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla powder (exclude this if you're using vanilla protein powder)
½ tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
120 ml raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
Shred the carrots as thin as possible. Add them to a large bowl. Add in the almond butter and eggs and mix well. Then add honey, protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder and salt and mix well again. If using raisins, fold them in now. Grease a 20 x 20 cm large baking dish with a bit of coconut oil, pour the cake batter in the dish and place in the oven for about 25-35 minutes (depending on thickness). The top of the cake should have a nice crust to it.
Take it out and let it cool slightly before slicing it up.

Chocolate coffee chia pudding

This is a super easy thing to either have as dessert or for breakfast instead of yoghurt or something like that. It's very easy to make and you can just make it the night before and it'll be all done the next morning. The recipe is from paleomg.com.

Ingredients
serves 2
120 ml brewed coffee, chilled
120 ml coconut milk
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
1 tbsp cocoa powder
60 ml chia seeds

Mix coffee, coconut milk, almond butter, vanilla, sweetener and cocoa powder together in a blender. Place the mixture in a large jar with lid and then add the chia seeds. Mix around with a spoon or put the lid on and shake the jar a couple of times. Place in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Enjoy!

Productive weekend

Actually, the header is a bit of a lie. Yesterday I wasn't productive at all so most of the things above I've actually made today. I've tried some new recipes and also made batches of some of my favourite recipes.

From left to right:
Cashew butter cookies - http://hannasfoodetc.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/cashew-butter-cookies.html
Crisp bread with seeds - http://hannasfoodetc.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/crisp-bread-with-seeds.html
Paleo bread rolls - http://hannasfoodetc.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/paleo-breadrolls.html
Spiced nuts - http://hannasfoodetc.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/spiced-nuts-2.html
Chocolate coffee chia pudding (recipe will be put up shortly)
Mint cookies - http://hannasfoodetc.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/mint-cookies.html

Paleo bread rolls

This is once again a recipe from undervarttak.blogspot.se. I just love their website. Since I'm Swedish it's a perfect place for me to find traditional Swedish things made Paleo. I'm gonna try some day soon to make their ginger bread cookies so that I won't miss Sweden too much over Christmas. Today however, I decided to make these sort of bread rolls which turned out alright. I wish they would've been a bit fluffier but I guess I'll have to work on that.

Ingredients
makes 6
300 ml almond flour
50 ml sunflower seeds
50 ml crushed linseed
1-2 tsp bread spices (I used caraway seeds, fennel seeds and cumin)
2 eggs
50 ml coconut milk
poppy seeds for decoration
coconut oil for the muffins tins

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Celsius.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk together the eggs and the coconut milk and pour this over the dry ingredients. Mix it all together to a soft and quite runny dough.
Grease six muffin tins with some coconut oil and fill them with the dough. Even them out with a wet spoon. Sprinkle on some poppy seeds on each roll. Bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Cashew butter cookies

These cookies looked so simple to make and seemed very tasty as well. Luckily they actually were as well. I found the recipe on kristensraw.com. Unfortunately mine didn't turn out quite as nice as hers though because for some reason I didn't pay attention when putting them on the sheet. I thought they would float out a bit more once the dough got warm in the oven. It doesn't really matter though, they still taste delicious.

Ingredients
makes 10 cookies
1 egg, room temperature
240 ml cashew butter
60 ml xylitol (or other sweetener)
½ tsp vanilla powder
2 pinches of salt
10 squares of Green & Blacks Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
Beat all the ingredients except for the chocolate together with an electric hand mixer until completely combined. Use a tablespoon and scoop the cookie dough on to the baking tray.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
Let the cookies cool a little bit then push one square of the chocolate on the top of each cookie.

Roasted broccoli florets

We had a barbecue last night even though it was raining and a bit windy. Luckily it wasn't too bad when the meat was actually on the barbecue. I was trying to think of what we could have with the garlic and herb lamb and realized we had quite a bit of broccoli in the fridge. Instead of just boiling or steaming it like usual I decided to roast it in the oven. With some salt, pepper and various spices; it turned out to be a perfect side dish for the lamb.

Ingredients

serves 2-3

1 large broccoli head

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp paprika powder

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Cut the broccoli into smaller florets and place them on a large baking tray.

Mix together the oil, the spices and salt. Pour this over the broccoli and mix around. 

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until it's soft and a little bit browned.

Spiced nuts #2

Found another recipe for spiced nuts on themerrymakersisters.com and it was really easy to make. Perfect in front of the movie or as a party snack.

Ingredients
240 ml raw almonds
240 ml raw cashews
240 ml raw macadamias
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ tsp ground chili
2 tsp paprika powder
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix around and make sure all the nuts get coated in the spices and oil. Transfer the nuts to the baking tray and roast in the oven for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn. Allow to cool before enjoying them.

Almost Paleo Chicken Tikka Masala

I got the recipe for this from againstallgrain.com. I love Tikka Masala so I wanted to give this a go. There seems to a lot of steps to this but to be honest it was quite easy, you just have to plan ahead a bit. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of this dish.

Ingredients
serves 4

Marinade:
500 g chicken thigh fillets, fat trimmed
120 ml plain Greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ tbsp ginger, grated
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper

Cashew cream:
Soak 240 ml raw cashews in 720 ml boiling water for about 30 minutes. Drain the cashews but keep the water. Put the cashews in a blender together with 180 ml of the soaking water. Blend until smooth.

Sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
½ onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp Garam masala spice mix
3/4 tsp chili powder
½ tsp paprika powder
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
500 ml crushed tomatoes or passata
1 tsp honey
180 ml cashew cream
120 ml unsweetened almond milk
3 tbsp fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Make the marinade by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl. Make some shallow slices in the chicken and place them in a zip-lock bag. Pour the marinade over it and massage the marinade in the bag so that it covers all the chicken. Let it marinade for about 24-48 hours.
Remove the chicken from the bag and with a paper towel remove the majority of the marinade.  Place it on a oven tray lined with baking paper and cook under the grill in the oven for about 10-12 minutes depending on the size of the chicken thighs. It's supposed to be just cooked through and being a bit browned. Remove from the oven and cut into cubes.
In a large pot or pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook until soft and slightly browned, about 6-8 minutes. Add the spices and stir together for about a minute.
Add the tomatoes and honey. Season with salt and pepper. Partially cover the pot and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir every now and again to keep the sauce from sticking.
Add the almond milk and cashew cream and continue to cook over low heat for about 10 minutes more. Add the chicken and simmer until chicken is warm again. Lastly, sprinkle with coriander.
Serve with some cauliflower rice.

Salmon with broccolini and asparagus

This recipe is from againstallgrain.com. She has a very good website with very pretty photos and a mix of different recipes. This recipe was very simple and tasty.

Ingredients
serves 3-4
3-4 salmon fillets, boneless and skinless
3 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp coconut sugar or honey
1/4 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp crushed garlic

250 g broccolini, trimmed
250 g asparagus, cut into 5 cm pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp sea salt
pinch cracked pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Mix the soy sauce, fish sauce, coconut sugar, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Place the salmon pieces on a baking dish and pour the marinade over fish. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes.
For the greens; add all the ingredients to a bowl and toss to coat. Spread the vegetables on a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast for 15-20 minutes.

Beef, sweet potato and parsnip gratin

I have made so many things lately but I just haven't had time to upload them and I've also forgotten to take photos. Last night I made a really tasty dish from undervarttak.blogspot.se. I mixed some parsnip in there together with the sweet potato since I really love the flavour of parsnip. Served it with some steamed broccoli because I thought it needed some greens. Result was deliciousness.

Ingredients
serves 4
1 medium sized sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
2 medium sized parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced
500 g ground beef
1 red onion, finely diced
400 ml coconut milk
2 garlic cloves, crushed
½ red chili, finely diced
1 tsp grated ginger
Parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Prepare the sweet potato and parsnip by peeling and slicing them.
Heat a large frying pan to medium heat and add some butter. Fry the onion for a couple of minutes. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Once browned, add the coconut milk, garlic, chili,ginger and parsley. Mix around and let it simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Add the sweet potato and parsnip and carefully mix around. Let it simmer again for a minute or two.
Pour into an ovenproof dish and cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes (depending on the thickness of the root vegetables). Enjoy with some steamed vegetables or a salad.

Paleo focaccia

So I've been craving bread for a couple of days now and I finally decided to make some bread without flour and found a recipe on undervarttak.blogspot.se. The result was much better than I expected actually, I didn't think it was going to be so fluffy which is definitely a good thing. Definitely something I'll make again when I'm craving bread of some sort.

Ingredients
makes 1 large flat bread
400 ml almond flour
50 ml coconut flour
100 ml psyllium husk
1 tbsp baking powder
1½ tsp salt
6 eggs
300 ml water
50 ml olive oil + extra for decoration
Sea salt
Fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Whisk together the eggs, water and 50 ml olive oil in another bowl. Once mixed completely, pour this over the dry ingredients and mix together until it's a soft dough. Let it sit for about 5 minutes so it gets a bit thicker.
Grease an oven tray with olive oil (I used one sized 25 x 30 cm).
Add the dough to the tray and flatten it evenly. Press with your finger to make small holes in the bread. Drizzle some olive oil over, then sprinkle the fresh rosemary and sea salt over the top as well.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until it has a golden colour and the test needle comes out clean. Enjoy!