Flourless Peanut Butter Muffins

We've made this muffins a few times, and they couldn't be easier. I love that they barely have any added sugar, and they don't require having gluten-free flour on hand. We buy the Trader Joe's organic creamy peanut butter, and it works great with this recipe. These muffins are ready in 30 minutes from start to finish! (FYI the banana flavor is not pronounced at all... you mostly just taste peanut butter.)

Flourless Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 cup natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
2 ripe bananas (about 1 cup, mashed)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon

Optional add-ins: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup fresh raspberries or strawberries (for a PBJ muffin), or 1 sliced banana.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a muffin tin with 12 liners

2. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients until smooth (you can also do this in a food processor). Once the batter is smooth, you can fold in one of the optional add-ins if using.

3. Divide the batter between 12 muffin liners and bake for 15 minutes.

4. The muffins should be firm and lightly golden on top. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

5. Serve immediately, or store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week, or in a sealed bag in the freezer.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Basically, this is a super easy recipe and it's delicious. Based off of this cookie cake.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Ingredients:
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup coconut oil or butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour/starch
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup gluten and dairy free chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and great a 9 inch cake pan.
2. Combine eggs, sugar, oil/butter, and vanilla and beat until quite smooth.
3. Add almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, and salt, and mis well until a sticky dough forms.
4. Then fold in the chocolate chips, and transfer the mixture to the prepared cake pan. Bake for 15 minutes, or until set.

So simple. So good!

Winter Squash and Caramelized Onion Tart

This blog is essentially our family cookbook and scrapbook. Nothing fancy. I've been posting a lot of recipes lately because we are in a food rut. I'm putting new recipes we like on the blog, so that I can find them easily next time I'm in a rut. 

Post-nap, pre-dinner is really not my favorite time of day. So when a new friend shared the idea of PrepDish, I was sold in about 2 seconds flat. I've always been skeptical of plans that require you to spend all day Sunday in the kitchen, preparing food for a week. This only took 1 hour and 45 minutes of my Sunday, and it was seamless. (It would've taken even less time if I hadn't been interrupted by broken glass and a toddler meltdown).

The premise, of course, is that you prep a lot of stuff beforehand, and basically assemble and bake or re-heat the day of. We've only eaten one meal so far, and it tasted incredible. Especially given how simple it was! 

The recipe was for a butternut squash, caramelized onion, and blue cheese tart. I altered it just a little, but I don't think it affected the essence of the dish at all. This was so good.

Ingredients

1-2 tsp dried basil

2 slices of bacon, cut into cubes (alternately, I used 1 large handful of EPIC Hickory Smoked Bacon Bits)

2 large delicata squash (or 2 small butternut squash, or 2 bags of frozen butternut squash cubes)

1 large red onion

4 oz blue cheese or goat cheese (alternately, I used Treeline Cracked Pepper Aged Cashew Cheese)

3 cups almond flour

4 Tbs butter, melted

1 egg

pinch of salt

olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is warming up, wash and dry the squash. Cut in half length-wise and remove the seeds. For delicata squash, you don't need to peel. Just slice into thin rounds. For butternut, peel and then cut into cubes. Toss the squash with 1 Tbs olive oil, salt, pepper, and bacon if it's uncooked. Spread into a single layer on a sheet pan and bake for 30-45 minutes, removing to toss occasionally.

2. Thinly slice the red onion. Heat 1 tbs oil over medium heat, add onions and a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally for 20-25 minutes until caramelized. Turn off heat and allow to cool.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the almond meal, butter, egg, and salt. Press dough into a greased or lined 9x13 inch baking dish (I lined with parchment paper to make cleanup easier). Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, until set.

4. Top crust with caramelized onions, roasted squash and bacon, and cheese crumbles. Place in oven for another 5-10 minutes to melt the cheese. Then top with basil, and drizzle with balsamic reduction, if desired.

Did I mention it was so stinking good?

Crack Slaw

My friend Kim shared this recipe with me, and Ross, Noah, and I inhaled it this week. It's really nice to have a new, easy way to use ground beef because we default to tacos or Bolognese sauce over pasta A LOT.

The first, couldn't-be-simpler version I tried is here, but I may try this fancier version one day, too.


Crack Slaw 

1 lb ground beef
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, sliced
1 bag of coleslaw mix 
2 Tbs coconut aminos OR gluten-free soy sauce
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp coconut sugar OR brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
optional: sesame seeds or cashew chunks to sprinkle on top

1. Brown the ground beef, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Heat the sesame oil and saute the garlic, onion, and cabbage in sesame oil until the cabbage is soft.

3. Stir in the soy sauce, Sriracha, sugar, ginger, and vinegar.

4. Add the ground beef back to the pain and mix everything well before serving!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chips Bars

So our oven finally breathed its last over the weekend. Not the best timing, but it was inevitable. So we got a new one thanks to the Lowe's 30% off sale! I broke it in with this recipe. Super easy, super low-sugar, super fall-ish.

Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

1 cup creamy almond butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
4 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1.5 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Spray an 8x11 baking dish with nonstick spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and almond butter until fluffy. Add pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt and mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly golden and set. Allow to cool before cutting.

1. 
   

Oven 'Fried' Salmon Cakes

I looove crab cakes, but haven't had them since going gluten-free years ago. I've seen recipes for salmon cakes, but they always intimidated me. After last night, I have no idea why. These were so delicious and so easy!

The original recipe is here. Below is the recipe with my modifications based on ingredients I had on hand:

Salmon Cakes

• 1 (14.75 ounce) can wild-caught pink or red salmon
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 Tbs diced onions
• 3 Tbs Tessemae's Lemon Chesapeake Dressing
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons ghee or butter, melted
   

Preheat the oven to 425 and line a large baking pan.

Drain the liquid from the salmon and crumble the fish into a large mixing bowl, removing the bones. Add the pumpkin, eggs, almond flour, onions, dressing, salt, hot pepper sauce, paprika, and black pepper. Mix well and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Brush the pan with some of the melted ghee, then use a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop the cakes and drop them onto the parchment. Flatten slightly with the back of a spatula. Brush the tops of the cakes with ghee, then bake for 20 minutes. Then carefully flip each patty with a spatula and return to the oven. Bake an additional 10 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and your sauce of choice.

Amazing!

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken

Super easy, super flavorful, super healthy. Win-win-win.

2 lbs boneless chicken thighs
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
12oz bottle hot sauce (any brand that has just aged cayenne pepper, distilled vinegar, and salt as the ingredients)
1/4 cup Tessamae's Ranch dressing (optional)
1-2 Tbs ghee (optional)

Dump the chicken, onion, pepper, hot sauce, and Ranch (if using) into the crockpot and mix together. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours until the chicken shreds easily with a fork. When the chicken is cooked, add the ghee or butter, if using, and stir it in as it melts. Then remove and serve as desired. Ross ate his on a tortilla, and I served mine alongside a roasted sweet potato. Yum!

Homemade Hemp Milk

I'm not usually one to sit down with a cold glass of milk-- dairy or otherwise. But homemade versions are just so much tastier than the store-bought versions, that I always find myself sipping on a glass when I make a fresh batch. Hemp milk is possibly the easiest ever, because you don't even have to strain it.

Hemp Milk (based off of this recipe)

1 cup shelled hemp seeds
3 cups filtered water
2-3 pitted Medjool dates
1 tsp vanilla

Blend all ingredients on high till they are smooth, and enjoy!

Lemon Ginger Meatballs

Another Whole 30 recipe we loved this week! I served these with some roasted yams whipped with ghee and fresh lemon zest (a nice change from the usual coconut oil and cinnamon that I tend to default to). Even Noah inhaled this dinner!

Lemon Ginger Meatballs adapted from Homegrown Paleo
(served 2 adults + 1 toddler for dinner, and leftovers for 1 adult + 1 toddler for lunch)

1 lb ground turkey or pork
4 shitake mushrooms, stemmed and minced (I couldn't find any, so went without this time)
1 tsp dried mint (or 1Tbs fresh)
1 tsp dried basil (or 1Tbs fresh)
1 tsp dried Italian parsley (or 1Tbs fresh)
1 egg white
1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 425. Add all ingredients to a medium bowl, and combine until spices are well-incorporated. Form into 18 meatballs and place them in a glass pie dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes, and dig in!

Sausage and Veggie Roast

This is barely a recipe, but we inhaled it this week, and I'm making it again next week... that's how much we loved it! I'm on day 12 of the Whole 30, and these meals have been a great change from the norm for us. This one was particularly simple, and a perfect winter meal. We couldn't stop picking bites off the baking pan!

Sausage and Veggie Roast (Paleo, gluten free)
makes 3-4 servings

4 bratwurst (we used Gilbert's chicken brats)
1.5lbs fingerling potatoes, rinsed and dried
1 10oz bag frozen green beans
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1-2 Tbs olive or avocado oil
juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1-2 tsp Cajun spice blend, or Italian spice blend
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Cut the sausage into bite size pieces. Add sausage, potatoes, garlic, and green beans to a large jelly roll pan (something with sides, as opposed to a cookie sheet). Drizzle with oil and lemon juice, and sprinkle with spices as desired. Mix together and bake for 45-60 minutes, flipping once or twice during cooking, until potatoes are cooked through.

The veggies, sausage, and seasoning are basically endlessly adaptable. I can't wait to try more combinations!

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole

I'm really trying to get out of a cooking rut. For a long time after having a baby, it was an achievement to get ANY sort of dinner on the table. It's still a monumental task some days, but other days, Noah helps out and we make dinner without meltdowns (from either one of us-- ha!). I'm a huge fan of casseroles because they are often easier, they warm up the house, and they're usually even better as leftovers! So forgive me while I share a few of them here, for easy access to make again later.

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole modified from PaleOMG

Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash (about 600 grams)
• 1 pound Italian sausage
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 eggs, whisked
• (you can add anything else you like with pizza: veggies, cheese, etc)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop the seeds out. Place spaghetti squash cut side down in agreased 8x8 dish and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the skin of the squash gives when you press on it. 
3. Remove squash from over and reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.
4. Scoop the threads out of the squash, squeeze over the sink to remove excess juices, and put the threads into the 8x8 greased baking dish. (Discard the squash skin.)
5. Place a large pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Cook onions with some oil until they are soft. Add onions to squash.
6.  Cook sausage in the large pan until pink no longer remains in the sausage and it is broken up into pieces.
7. Add dried basil, salt, pepper, and eggs to the squash and onion, and mix well. Drizzle the pizza sauce over the top of the mixture, and top with sausage crumbles.
8. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour or until the top of the mixture forms a slight crust that doesn't give when you press on it in the middle of the dish.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Time to catch up on recipes we've been loving! This muffin is amazing. It's the most "normal" gluten-free muffin I've had to date. The texture is not too crumbly, not too dry, and not too eggy. Bonus: the peanut butter overshadows the banana enough that Ross actually eats these!

Ingredients:

1 cup organic peanut butter (use almond butter to make them Paleo)

3 organic eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut flour
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract 

Directions:   

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl mix the bananas, eggs and peanut butter until smooth.  Add the remainder of the ingredients mix thoroughly. Divide batter evenly in a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove from the baking pan and allow muffins to cool. Enjoy!

(They're especially wonderful with my grandma's strawberry jelly on top)

Chocolate Graham Crackers

Guess what? It's still raining. I feel like March and April just blurred together into a long string of rainy days. Once a week we'll get a perfect spring day with sunshine and flowers blooming, and then just when we start to hope that spring has arrived, we get another 6 days of rain and lows in the 30s.

This has not conducive to running outdoors, doing homework (I'd rather nap), or spring cleaning, but it's certainly good baking weather, right? My mom used to make homemade graham crackers with us and I occasionally get a craving, but hadn't tried a gluten-free version yet. Now I have!

This recipe makes a tiny batch of graham crackers: just 20-24 rustic crackers. Perfect to snack on as I finish my homework.

Chocolate Graham Crackers

1 cup almond flour
1 Tbs ground flaxseed
1/2 cup unsweetened cacao powder (cocoa powder would probably work as well)
2 1/2 Tbs honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 Tbs almond milk (as needed)

Pour the almond flour, flax, cacao powder, honey, vanilla, and salt into a food processor and blend until a thick dough forms. If the consistency remains crumbly, add almond milk in small increments until a dough forms.

Roll onto parchment paper (the dough will be sticky) until you have a single sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Score lightly with a butter knife and poke several holes in each cracker with the tines of a fork.

Bake at 350 for 6-10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit for several minutes. While they are still soft, run a pizza cutter along the scored lines to separate the crackers. Allow to cool.

More graham goodness on the interwebs:
Elana's Pantry
All Day I Dream About Food
Joyful Abode
Simply Healthy Living

Blueberry Orange Scones

This is a Paleo recipe. That means there's no added sugar, no grain, and no dairy. I used orange juice as a bit of a sweetener here, but it's 100% juice with no sugar added. The recipe is really dense so sugar-free doesn't necessarily mean it's low in calories, but this is one of the few baked goods I've made that actually keeps me full for hours. I can eat two of these in the morning with a little fruit on top and be good to go.

I know some bakers are really good at making Paleo recipes that taste astounding and have a normal texture. These scones, well, they had to grow on me. But once they did, I couldn't get enough. Nonetheless, I have to give you the caveat that they're really good for a Paleo baked good.

Now. On to the recipe. Yum!

Blueberry Orange Scones

3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 Tbs ground flax seed (optional)
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp apple cider vinagar
1 egg
1 Tbs butter or coconut oil (optional)
1/2 cup blueberries

In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, flax, and baking soda. In a large bowl combine eggs, orange juice, butter, and vinegar. Stir dry ingredients into wet, mixing until combined

Scoop about ¼ cup of batter at a time onto a prepared baking sheet. (This makes 6 scones). Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, until slightly browned around the edges. Let cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes and enjoy!

I can't wait to try a pumpkin spice version next... Happy October!

Pumpkin Paleo Cookies

Let me start off by saying that the genius behind these cookies definitely gets accredited to Danielle from Against all Grain and her outstanding nut-free Paleo breakfast cookies. I simply added a fall twist when I made them. Again, since they're Paleo, they don't have the "chew" you normally expect from a cookie. However, they are definitely sweet enough with the pureed raisins and banana in the batter.

Pumpkin Paleo Cookies

1 ripe banana (about 1/2 cup mashed)   
1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 Tbs. coconut oil, butter, or nut butter
scant 1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup coconut flour
2 Tbs. flaxseed   
1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1½ tsp lemon juice


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, puree the bananas, raisins, pumpkin, and butter until the mixture reaches the consistency of baby food.

Add the coconut flour, vanilla, baking soda, lemon juice, and spices and pulse 5 or 6 times until combined. Stir in the shredded coconut if desired. Spoon Tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto a prepared cookie sheet. Flatten them a bit, if you want. These cookies don’t spread while baking.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely before removing from the pan, then store in an airtight container in the fridge. Makes 12-18 cookies.

I've started baking as a reward for extended periods of paper-writing for school. In my stress-filled moments, I'm having a hard time stopping at 3-4 cookies. They're so easy to eat!

Also, happy birthday, Momma!

And T. G. I. F.



{Edited to Add: I have made these cookies numerous times now. Surprisingly, my favorite version is without the raisins. It's only a tad less sweet, but much easier to make since you can just dump everything in a mixing bowl. Also, the coconut is really not optional if you want a more traditional cookie-like texture. So. Final verdict: make these without pureed raisins, but with coconut. You won't be sorry!}