Chocolate ice cream

I borrowed this ice cream recipe from Civilized Caveman and it's so easy to make it's ridiculous.

Ingredients
makes 2-4 servings
1 can (approx 400 ml) of cold coconut milk
60 ml rice malt syryp (or honey)
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together all the ingredients in a blender until thoroughly combined. Turn on your ice cream maker and pour in the mixture. The ice cream should take about 10-20 minutes. Pay attention to when it starts to set. Once done, put it in the freezer for another 30-60 minutes before serving.
But most importantly...enjoy!

Lamingtons

Since we're now in Australia, we wanted to celebrate the Australia day by making some delicious Lamingtons. But since we're currently trying to cut out wheat and sugar I tried to find some alternative. I managed to find this delicious recipe on EatDrinkPaleo.com.au and to be honest I think we both prefer these ones compare to the original. I'm not going to put the recipe on here since I almost did exactly according to her recipe. So I've just put a link to the original recipe and you can go from there. The only difference is that we filled our Lamingtons with my home made raspberry jam instead of chocolate.
Enjoy...and Happy Australia Day!

Long time, no see

Thai almond pork used to be one of our favourite dishes but we haven't made it in ages so tonight I decided to make it. We realised that it might get even better by using sambal oelek instead of fresh chili so next time we'll do that. The previous recipe post didn't have a picture so here it is.

Mango coconut ice cream

We bought an ice cream machine a while ago and I tried it for the first time the other day. I made chocolate ice cream then and it was delicious. Today I decided to make mango ice cream and this one turned out good as well, although it probably could have done with another mango for more mango flavour. You do need an ice cream machine for this recipe but it's definitely worth getting one if you don't have one. It's very rewarding knowing that you've made your delicious ice cream yourself and you know exactly what's in it.

Ingredients
makes about 4 servings
1 mango (could use 2)
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp honey

If you keep the coconut milk and mango in the fridge the ice cream will be done faster.
Cut up the mango and put in the blender. Add the vanilla, honey and coconut milk and blend all together. Turn on your ice cream machine and pour in the coconut milk mixture. Let it run for about 10-20 minutes or until it's set. Put in a container and keep in the freezer for another 30-60 minutes until you serve it. Enjoy!!

Paleo chocolate pudding

Ok, fastpaleo.com is definitely my favourite website for Paleo recipes. Since we're celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary tonight (sort of...) I wanted to make something tasty for dessert and I found this recipe which was supereasy and I had all the ingredients at home so it was really convenient. It tastes delicious and is perfect for a mid-week treat.

Ingredients
serves 2-3
1 avocado
½ ripe banana
60 ml coconut milk
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 handful almonds

Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. Roughly chop the almonds and fold these in the chocolate mixture. Place in individual serving cups and cover with cling wrap. Put in the fridge for a couple of hours and enjoy.

Paleo moussaka

Paleo Australia is a really good website to find recipes. Found a few good ones there so give it a try.
This recipe was alright, I'm not sure if maybe I didn't do it correctly. The flavour is really tasty but maybe it was a bit too wet.

Ingredients
serves approx 4
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
500 g mince meat
½ sweet potato, thinly sliced
½ zucchini, thinly sliced
½ small eggplant, thinly sliced
3 mushrooms, thinly sliced
½ red capsicum
1 can chrushed tomatoes
3 tsp tomato paste
1/4 cauliflower head
1 parsnip
½ small leek, sliced
oregano
basil
bay leaf
paprika powder
cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

In a frying pan, cook chopped onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add in mince and brown off with paprika powder, salt and pepper to taste. Pour out the excess juice and fat and transfer into a bowl to wait on the side.

In the same pan, pour in the canned tomatoes, add salt and pepper, bay leaf, some herbs and reduce until you have a nice thick sauce.

In an oiled baking tray, begin to layer the ingredients. Start with sweet potato and zucchini on the bottom followed by a thin layer of mince, tomato sauce and mushrooms. Begin next one with eggplant, zucchini, capsicum and mince until the tray is 3/4 full, finishing with the sauce on top. Keep pressing the layers down firmly.

Put cauliflower and parsnips through a food processor on the fine grater mode to get an even crumble. Combine the crumble with sliced leek in a bowl. Spread over the dish as the top layer. Garnish with herbs and drizzle with some olive oil.

Cover the tray with aluminium foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 20 minutes at 220 degrees or until surface is golden brown. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper on the top before serving.

Paleo Shepherd's pie

Ingredients
serves 3-4 people
1 onion
1 garlic clove
200 g bacon
2 medium sized carrots
500 g ground beef
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp black pepper
herbs and spices as preferred
250 ml chicken stock
1 large cauliflower head
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
smoked paprika powder

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Cut off the florets from the cauliflower head and steam until really soft. Put in a food processor together with 2 tbsp butter, salt and pepper and mix together.
Finely dice the onion and carrots. Add 2 tbsp cooking fat (I used butter) to a pan on medium-low heat. Sauté the onion for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and bacon and sauté for 5 minutes more. Put the carrots in the pan and cook for another 5 minutes and last, add the ground beef and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and all the spices and mix around. Add the chicken stock and let it simmer for about 5 minutes until almost all the stock has evaporated.
Pour the beef mixture in a baking dish and pour the mashed cauliflower over it. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Sprinkle some paprika powder on top for a final touch.

Mango and blueberry muffins

Wow is all I have to say. Civilizedcaveman has done it again. These muffins are so good that you definitely have to try them. My muffin tray seems to be a bit bigger than normal ones so I only got six muffins out of this recipe but according to the original you're supposed to get nine.
I'll definitely be making these ones again. Enjoy!

Ingredients
makes approx 9 muffins
3 eggs
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 tbsp coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
60 ml coconut flour
120 ml diced mango (about ½ a mango)
120 ml blueberries

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Mix together eggs, honey, coconut oil, coconut milk, salt and vanilla.
Sift in the coconut flour and baking powder. Make sure it's mixed in properly.
Fold in the mango and blueberries and divide into muffin tins (filling them up to about 1/2-3/4 of the tin)
Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.

Pumpkin and sweet potato soup

Delicious creamy soup. Recipe from fastpaleo.com

Ingredients
serves 3-4
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
700 g pumpkin flesh, diced
1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp butter
1 l chicken stock
250 ml coconut milk
cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
4 rashes of bacon (optional)


Heat a large pot, melt cooking fat and fry onion until soft. Add garlic and fry for another minute. Add chopped pumpkin and sweet potatoes and fry off for a few minutes. Add the chicken stock, season with cayenne, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 25 min until potato and pumpkin are tender. Stir in coconut milk and use blender make a smooth soup. Fry the bacon until crispy then cut in small pieces. Serve the soup in bowls with the bacon pieces sprinkled on top.

Zucchinipasta with the tastiest tomato sauce

I found this recipe on tasteline.se and I thought I had to try it. I modified it a little bit by serving it hot and adding some chicken and spinach.

Ingredients
serves 3-4
2 tomatoes
150 ml sundried tomatoes
1 red capsicum
2 garlic cloves, peeled
½ red chili
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsk dried oregano
1 tsk dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion
½ capsicum
200 g cooked turkey/chicken
1 handful spinach
400 g zucchini

Cut the tomatoes and the capsicum in chunks and put them in a food processor together with the peeled garlic cloves, the chili, sundried tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Mix until a somewhat smooth consistency.

Slice the zucchini with a potato peeler so that you end up with thin slices (alternatively you can use a mandolin and julienne it). Place them in a colander and toss with plenty of salt. Leave the zucchini to sweat excess water in the sink for about 20 minutes.

Dice the onion, capsicum and turkey/chicken. Drizzle some olive oil in a pan and add the diced onion. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the capsicum and cook for another few of minutes. Once the onion and capsicum are soft, add the tomato sauce and let it simmer on low heat for about 5-10 minutes. Then add the chicken and spinach and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

While your sauce is simmering rinse and drain the zucchini and make sure to get rid of as much salt as possible. In a separate pan, heat up some olive oil and sauté the zucchini on low heat until it is heated through (normally takes a few minutes). Serve the sauce on top of the zucchini and enjoy!

Almond milk

Almond milk seems to be the new thing and I was curious to see how it is to make it yourself since it seems like the ones you buy in the store have a lot of unnecessary ingredients in them. So I found a recipe on paleoaustralia.com and it was really easy to make.

Ingredients
250 g natural almonds
1 l cold water
2 pitted dates
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a blender and mix until it becomes creamy. Strain through a sieve and transfer to an airtight bottle or container so that it'll keep in the fridge. Lasts for about 4 days.










After straining it you get left with some wet almond meal so I decided to make a smoothie with this and banana, a shot of coffee, some of the almond milk and ice. I just put it all in the blender until mixed thoroughly. Decorate with some cocoa powder and almonds.

Really good banana pancakes

I was amazed by how good theses pancakes where when they only contain 2 ingredients (in the original recipe). I added two more ingredients for some extra flavour and texture.

Ingredients
makes approx 20 small pancakes
2 ripe bananas
4 eggs
3 tbsp shredded coconut
½ tsp vanilla

Cut the bananas in pieces and mix to a purée in a food processor. Add the eggs, coconut and vanilla and mix to a batter. Heat a frying pan and fry the pancakes in some coconut oil on medium heat. Enjoy with some fruits or your choice of topping.

Chicken slaw

So I got the inspiration for this dish from http://everydaypaleo.com. I love dishes that involves putting every ingredient together in a big bowl and just mix it up. Then you can easily just eat it with a fork. No fuss. Might not be very glamorous but oh so delicious. I roasted my chicken myself because I had the time but you can buy a precooked chicken as well.

Ingredients
(serves 4)
½ chicken, diced
2 cups cabbage, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced or grated
½ zucchini, thinly sliced or grated
½ capsicum, thinly sliced
½ red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp paprika powder
a pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and serve with some fresh salad leaves or some other vegetable of preference.

Bbq mince patties with green salad

Found this recipe on taste.com.au and thought it could be a nice twist to normal mince meat patties and they turned out really well.

Ingredients
(makes about 6 patties)
500g beef mince
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small carrot, peeled, grated
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
Baby spinach
Avocado
Cucumber
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together the beef mince, onions, garlic, carrot, egg yolk and barbecue sauce. Shape mixture into patties, about 2 cm thick. Put them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
While the patties are in the fridge you can prepare the salad by cutting the vegetables and dress it with the oil and vinegar. Fry the patties in some olive oil on a medium heat.

Balsamic chicken with braised cabbage and bacon

It's been a while now and I'm currently in Sydney, Australia. I have not been able to cook that much good food here yet since I'm not really sure where to find all ingredients but I'm getting a bit closer so today I decided to make a Paleo recipe. The Paleo lifestyle has been on hold for us for a while now because of the move but slowly we'll pick it up again. I found the recipe for this on http://everydaypaleo.com/ and the Paleo Recipe book. Enjoy!

Ingredients
serves 2-3
Balsamic chicken
2 chicken breasts (each cut in half long way)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of crushed garlic
2 ½ tbsp wholegrain mustard

Braised cabbage with bacon
1 cup chicken stock
3 slices bacon, cut up into bite size pieces
thyme
½ medium green cabbage, finely sliced
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse off your chicken breasts and season both sides with salt and pepper. Put them in a plastic bag and add the balsamic, extra virgin olive oil, mustard and garlic. Close up the bag and massage the chicken in the bag to ensure it all gets coated evenly. Put in the fridge and let marinade for as long as you want; the longer the better. Fry on medium heat in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil and brown on both sides. Once brown; turn down the heat, add a bit of the marinade, cover with a lid and let reduce it down. Make sure to stir occasionally and cook until the chicken is no longer pink on the inside.
Bring the chicken stock, bacon and thyme to a boil in a pot. Add the cabbage, boil for 5 minutes and then reduce to a simmer until the cabbage is just tender. Add some extra stock during the simmering process if it seems to have reduced too much. Add the butter, salt and pepper.