Blueberry Paleo Pancakes

Lately, I’ve been experiencing a lot of recipe failure. Partially because I'm trying to make many of my old recipes grain and sugar free. And partially because I usually wing it in the kitchen, with varying results. Wild experiments have produced some of my best recipes and some very botched dishes. I’ve tried to paleofy my best cookie recipe twice now, and it’s still not ready. I’ve got this chocolaty masterpiece in the works, but it’s not right yet. This afternoon, I began my quest for homemade tamales. I’ve made these once before with amazing results. But tonight my tamales exploded! Literally, the filling was everywhere in the steam pot. Don’t worry, I’ll still eat them. They are still quite tasty, just not ready to share. I figured out what I did wrong. But, I was so hoping I would have an epic tamale tale to tell tonight. Soon.

That turned to this ; (

What I do have is a recipe for some scrumptious paleo pancakes from this morning. So I'll share these.

Blueberry Paleo Pancakes (makes about 8, 4-inch pancakes)

Ingredients

2 small mashed bananas

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons almond butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3 Tablespoons coconut flour

2 Tablespoons almond milk

pinch of salt
1 Cup blueberries (Revised 4/22/13, I forgot to mention the blueberries before ; )

Directions

1.) In a large bowl, use a whisk to beat mashed bananas, eggs, almond butter, vanilla and 

almond milk.

2.) Sprinkle in coconut flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix until well-blended. Mix in blueberries.

3.) Heat electric griddle to 350 degrees F or put a large skillet on medium heat. Add 1 

Tablespoon coconut oil to whichever one you're using.

4.) Pour a scant 1/4 Cup of batter in little 4-inch rounds on griddle/skillet. Wait until little 

bubbles form & pop in the center of the pancakes, then flip. Mine took about 5 minutes 

each side. 

I enjoyed them with maple syrup!

P.S. If you ever try any of these recipes please leave a comment with results, suggestions, etc.

Roasted Swiss Chard with Feta

Swiss chard is another one of those stunning vegetables. It's undeniably the most alluring of the greens. I love this recipe. The Swiss chard and feta flavors compliment each other so perfectly. This recipe uses both the leafy greens and bright crunchy stems of the chard. This is my favorite way to serve Swiss chard as a side. For more than 3 people, I'd double this recipe.

Roasted Chard with Feta Recipe

Ingredients:
1 bunch organic chard (any variety)
1/2 Onion, chopped
4 oz. Organic Feta Cheese
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1.) Preheat oven to 350 F. Wash & dry chard. Then separate chard leaves from stems. Chop stems and tear leaves into bite-size pieces.

3.) Toss onion and chopped stems with 1 Tablespoon of melted coconut oil in a glass baking dish. Sprinkle with  a bit of salt and pepper

4.) Bake for 15 minutes, until onions are just translucent.

5.) Add chard leaves, 1 more Tablespoon coconut oil, slat and pepper to baking dish and toss. Crumble feta cheese on top.

6.) Bake for 15-20 minutes more, until cheese is slightly melted.

Enjoy!

Zesty Cheezy Kale Chips (Vegan & Paleo)

When I’m craving salty junk food I usually go for Brad’s Raw Kale Chips. Vampire Killer flavor. Who knew vegan, raw kale chips would be so tasty?! But they cost 8$ a package, and I'll inhale a package in one sitting. So I figure I could make them at home and save some money. I guess I saved a little bit of money, maybe a couple bucks. Now I know why they cost so much. This isn’t the cheapest recipe, but it delivers that zesty crunch in a healthy way. You can make them spicier by adding more jalapeno or cayenne. 

I make these 2 different ways, baked in the oven or raw in the dehydrator. I prefer the dehydrator version. I like thinking about all those raw health benefits as I eat them. They do take forever in the dehydrator, though. Luckily they turn out great either way, since my level of patience decides which method I use. 

Zest Cheezy Kale Chips Recipe

Ingredients

1 large bunch of kale (or 2 small bunches) Any kind of kale will do

1/2 red bell pepper

1 Cup raw soaked cashews (soaked in water for 20-40-min, then drained)

1 Tablespoon sunflower seeds

1/2 Cup nutritional yeast

2 teaspoons diced jalapeno (about ¼ of a small jalapeno)

4 cloves garlic

3 Tablespoons lemon juice (1 small lemon)

1 teaspoon honey

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar 

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

pinch of cayenne

dash of pepper

Directions

1.) If using oven method: Preheat oven to 200 and line 2 or more baking sheets with a layer of lightly greased aluminum foil.

2.)Wash and dry kale very well. Tear into 3-4 inch pieces.

3.) In a food processor or good blender mix all the remaining sauce ingredients until smooth and well-blended.

4.) In a large bowl pour sauce over kale and mix by hand. I find it easiest to put a small layer of kale in the bowl and top with a scoop of sauce, then another small layer of kale, more sauce, and so on. Then use you hands to mix and rub well, coating all the kale leaves with sauce. 

5.) Lay leaves on sheets in a single layer (If you only have 2 cookie sheets it may take 2 batches to cook).

6.) Cook on middle rack for about 90 minutes, until completely dry and crunchy. Check often toward the end to make sure they don't burn. You can remove the perfectly cooked ones and return the still soggy ones back to the oven. When done, remove from the oven and allow chips to cool on the pan. 

Coated chips before drying in the dehydrator

Dehydrator Method:

Prep kale and sauce as directed above. Lay sauce-coated leaves in a single layer on each rack. I completely fill up my 4 dehydrator racks. Turn dehydrator on to 115. Every few hours I rearrange the racks to ensure even drying. Dry for 5-7 hours, or until completely dry and crunchy. 

Cheers!

Easy Beets- Love them! Busy Life- Love it too!

It's been too long! I manage to post a bit on weekends but barely at all during the week. Here's why: 

1.) I've started a new graduate course that is already more time intensive than the last one. 

2.) First grade is getting quite busy with testing and parent-teacher conferences coming up. 

3.) I signed up for the Crossfit Open. I'm having trouble remembering why I decided to join a competition that I will clearly suck at. Oh that's right, I was still high from the adrenaline of the Women's WOD Jam. So I'm trying to train better and actually work on my weaknesses. Which is not my favorite. I tend to really dislike anything I'm bad at. Like golf, I hate golf. Partially because I'm terrible, but mostly because golf sucks.

4.) Indian Creek is in 2 weeks!!!! My climber friends and I will be spending a week in the creek for spring break. I'm super psyched because it's the Creek! Stunning, red splitter hand cracks in every direction. This climber's paradise is about an hour from Moab, Utah. The climbing is unique and always kicks my butt. I'm pumped, because thanks to Crossfit, I'm stronger than I've ever been. But I haven't been on real rock since November! So I've got 2 weeks to get back in the climbing gym, work on my forearm strength and get my lead head together. Should of thought about this a couple weeks ago. Procrastination, I love to do it, but hate what it does to me. 

5.) I have a new friend in my life. More to come on him later.

Now for Beets: I discovered beets when I joined Door to Door Organics, 2 years ago. I fell in love. This is my favorite way to cook beets. They taste way better this way than steamed. They retain way may of their nutrition. And it's way easy.

Roasted Beets

- Preheat oven to 375
- Wash well and chop off the ends (Use the greens like kale, chard or mustard greens)
- No need to peel or poke with a knife
- Wrap in aluminum foil
- Bake for 40-60 minutes, depending on the size of your beets
- Check by poking a knife through the foil. If there's no resistance to the center, they're done.
- Set aside to cool, then unwrap (Careful Hot!)
- Once cool enough to touch- Use your fingers to simply rub the skin right off. It comes off very easily.

I keep mine in the fridge for a week and put them in salads, smoothies, with eggs, with baked yams, or just enjoy alone. 

Eggplant, No Longer the Kim Kardashian of Vegetables

     
      For quite some time, eggplant has been the Kim Kardashian of vegetables. Just so gorgeous and sultry on the outside. But the inside substance, so disappointing.  Just look at it!  The glistening, deep purple skin. It really is the most enticing of vegetables. So often, it’s alluring appearance catches my eye in the store. I buy it, take it home, thinking this time it’ll be different. But it ends up a mushy, tasteless mess.

            That is until I met Joe from New Zealand. Joe drove up to our campsite the first morning in the magical climbing mecca of Ten Sleep, Wyoming. He had just arrived and was looking for some climbing partners. Joe seemed nice plus he had an awesome accent, so sure come climb with us! It was one of those perfect climbing days.  We shared the crag with a fantastic group of contagiously psyched climbers and cute, sleepy dogs. Every climb was classic. We all were at the top of our game. Joe turned out to be a great partner.  So great in fact, I trusted him to catch my fall on my hard-fought flash attempt. Joe crushed that climb. That night we combined efforts to cook dinner in the rain. Turns out, Joe was something of a chef. He showed me how to cook eggplant this way, the way his mom taught him. Cook it dry in a pan. When it’s done, remove and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. It just soaks up all the flavor and turns out delicious. Thank you Joe! You changed eggplant for me.

Perfect Eggplant Recipe

Ingredients:

1 eggplant

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1-2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

1.) Peel eggplant and cut up into thick ¾ inch slices.

2.) In a single layer, place eggplant in a large heavy bottom pan. Cook on Medium heat (dry-no oil) for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned.

3.) Flip each piece over and cook 4-5 minutes more,   
 or until lightly browned.

4.) Put eggplant in a serving dish. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Then toss to coat each piece with oil. The eggplant will shrink slightly.

5.) Serve and enjoy immediately!