Paleo Coconut Power Bar Bites

Mmmm! A new recipe is here!

With a little time on my hands and some ripe bananas to use, I created a new bar recipe. This one is Paleo Coconut Power Bar Bites...and since it's Paleo, it's also gluten-free, dairy-free, with only naturally occurring sugars, (and accidentally vegan). These are a sweet treat, not unlike a cookie--so that's why I'm cutting mine into square inch bites.

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a large Pyrex baking dish, combine:

• 5 small/medium ripe bananas (mashed)
• 2 cups shredded UNSWEETENED coconut
• 1 cup hemp hearts
• 1/3 cup chia seeds
• 1/3 cup goji berries
• 1/2 cup pecans (chopped)

In a separate bowl combine:

• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 1 cup pitted dates (blended *I did mine with a hand blender along with the top two ingredients)

Mash the date blend into the Pyrex dish with the other mixed ingredients. Press evenly into the pan, and smooth edges.

Bake at 300 degrees for 50 minutes. Allow to cool. Cut into little bite size squares!

Enjoy :)

Dairy-Free Crock Pot Butternut Squash Soup

I've been on a bit of a roll with soup lately. My old crock pot unfortunately died, and we picked up a new one...so of course, I've been inspired to use it!

Overnight I made a delicious crock pot soup, and I'm happy to share the recipe here! It's gluten-free, and dairy-free. It's got a subtle hint of cinnamon and is absolutely belly and heartwarming.

Butternut Squash Soup

4 cups chicken broth
1 butternut squash: peeled, seeded, and diced (pieces don't have to be of equal size)
2 carrots, diced
1 large yam, peeled, and diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon cinnamon
salt and pepper, to taste

Simple ingredients! Just dump them all in a Crock Pot, stir, and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Once finished, blend up with a hand blender.

Enjoy!

Crock-Pot Mango Coconut Chicken Curry

Absolutely delicious, and a wonderful lunch to bring to work! This makes a crock-pot full!

Ingredients:

12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon coconut oil (if you don't have this, go ahead and use butter)
1 can coconut milk
2 cups diced carrots
1 zucchini, quartered, then diced
2 tomatoes, diced
2 mangos, skinned and diced
2 bell peppers, colours of your choice, diced
1 1/2 tbsp medium curry powder
1 tbsp grated ginger
1/4 cup cilantro (I used freeze dried)
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
salt, and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Toss it all in your crock-pot or slow cooker, and stir.
Cook on low for 9 hours. No need to stir!

Roasted Chestnuts

It's that time of year (in Vancouver anyways...) that the roasted chestnut vendors scatter the streets downtown. Those difficult to peel, but delightful and filling bites are such a treat when you're doing your Christmas shopping, but have you ever considered making them at home? I sure hadn't...until I saw raw chestnuts on display at my local No Frills.

This is a super easy recipe that takes about 40 minutes. When shopping at the grocery store, pick the large round chestnuts with a smooth glossy shell. Keep them in the fridge until you're ready for them. From my research, they should last in the fridge about 2 weeks...but I wouldn't keep them that long.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Hold the pointy end of the chestnut from your forefinger to the flatter end with your thumb. Make a thin slice across the rounded part of the chestnut shell, making sure you cut through the shell part (but don't go too deep). Use a serrated knife, versus a smooth blade.

3. Toss the chestnuts into a pie pan, making sure there's only one layer (don't stack them)

4. Bake for 35 minutes.

5. Enjoy!

Perfect Pork Loin Rub

If you haven't already discovered this, Costco sells the BEST pork loins. They come in packs of 5 or 6 in the fresh meat section, so you can pack them up and freeze them, cooking only one at a time.

Tonight I made a perfect pork loin rub, adapted from an online recipe I found to accommodate my allergies. It's sweet, with a hint of heat that can be adjusted by the amount of crushed peppers you add! This recipe is enough for one pork loin.

I rubbed this mixture onto the pork loin only minutes before wrapping in tin foil and baking at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Enjoy!

Ingredients: (I measured very loosely, so play a little with this recipe to develop your favourite blend!)

1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp thyme

Shake it up! Rub it on!

Coconut Crusted Chicken with Spicy Peach Dipping Salsa

I apologize for the hiatus...this happened last summer, too. I've been very busy (as summers seem to go...), but also haven't really had much worth blogging about until now!

A few weeks ago I went to a girl's night at my friend's place. She served us a delicious recipe similar to this, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Coconut crusted chicken....just thinking about it makes me drool. We had peaches laying around in our fridge, and I thought...coconut....chicken...peaches...yes! I'm going to have it all!

This recipe is extraordinary, and I know I'll be using coconut to crust more than just chicken in the future. We used 2 chicken breasts for this recipe, and ate it for dinner. It would also serve as a fantastic appetizer!

*This recipe contains egg.

Coconut Crusted Chicken with Spicy Peach Dipping Salsa

You will need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips
1 egg, yolk and white lightly whipped
1 cup (at least) unsweetened coconut (I used unsweetened coconut ribbons from Whole Foods and cut them up a bit smaller to accommodate)

AND

2 peaches, peeled with pits removed
1 tbsp raw honey (optional...if your peaches are really sweet, omit! The peaches I had were not at all sweet)
1/2 tsp red chili flakes


1. Using a hand blender, blend peaches, honey, and red chill flakes until MOSTLY smooth. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. Dip chicken strips into egg mixture, then coconut. Cover thoroughly with coconut before placing on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

3. Once all are complete, bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Flip, then bake for another 5-7 minutes.

4. Allow to rest for 5 minutes prior to serving.


**I managed to save 2 small pieces and a little salsa before they were all devoured...here's what they look like!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I love tacos. For a long time, I bought those "taco kits" by Old El Paso. They come with the taco shells, some mystery taco spice, and some extra mysterious "taco sauce" (what is that!?). I always threw out the taco sauce...why is it not refrigerated? Something freaky going on there.

In doing some research about the ingredients of taco spice, I learned:

1. One serving size (1/6 of the package), gives you 23% of your daily sodium intake. (woah)
2. Maltodexrin is the number one ingredient. (huh?!)
3. In addition to maltodexrin, there are some extra special ingredients such as: monosodium glutamate, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, silicon dioxide, ethoxyquin (developed by Monsanto, and labelled as 'moderately toxic'), and the ambiguous "natural flavour"

SCARY!

What's all that doing in my spice mix?!!?!

Now, catch your breath...I know that was horrifying. I have the solution

.

Homemade Taco Seasoning. It works the same, it looks the same, it smells the same, but it's MUCH BETTER FOR YOU! (and this version is garlic free)

This recipe will make a lot. Keep it stocked in a jar and add it to your beef, chicken, pork...whatever! It's multi-purpose!

In a large jar, mix together:
1/2 cup chili powder
6 tbsp paprika
1/8 cup onion powder
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
4 tsp red pepper flakes

Ta-da! Easy peasy.

Superfood Superpower Nut Bars (Paleo Version of the Oat Bar)

I've been doing a lot of reading on the Paleo way of eating, and I think I might give it a try! In the meantime, I've been trying to eat up all the non-Paleo foods in my house (I hate wasting things), and have been buying a whole lot more veggies, fruit, and meat at the grocery store!

Because I'm OBSESSED with my new oat bars, I decided to play around with the recipe to try to make a Paleo version! They turned out great! Give them a try if you're trying to eliminate ALL grains.

If you're also looking to eliminate the maple syrup, I would suggest adding an additional banana to the mix- keep the apple sauce the same- OR use the equivalent amount of canned pumpkin in place of the maple syrup.

Here's the new recipe:

Paleo Fruit and Nut Bars:

¼ cup Goji Berries
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup black chia seeds
2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
½ cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup hemp hearts
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup chopped pecans

1 small mashed banana

½ cup unsweetened apple sauce

¼ cup maple syrup (or if you don't want to use this- try the equivalent of canned pumpkin!)

Here's a close up! Look at all that Paleo goodness!