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.

Ranch dressing

Not quite the ranch dressing that I'm used to from home but this is quite a delicious dressing.

Ingredients
120 ml Paleo mayo
120 ml coconut milk
½ tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dill
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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.