Paleo Pot Luck

I got to take some home! :) Turkey, Roasted Potatoes and Beets, and Green Beans

I mentioned in my last post that I would be attending a paleo pot luck on Thursday night.. well I went and I wanted to tell you a little bit about it. The pot luck was at Dr. Arland Hill's office, a friend of Dr. Krupka's. It was really cool to listen to Dr. Hill's patients talk about how he has made a difference in their lives. Dr. Krupka's patients always talk about the difference he's made for them also, so it was awesome to hear that someone else is teaching the same way of life. There were so many interesting stories and one family all decided to make going paleo a lifestyle change about 9 weeks ago. Everyone in the family noticed significant changes in their weight and overall health. I really enjoyed my time talking with everyone and trying all of the great dishes that they brought. There were all kinds of great things.. pizza, tortillas, roasted vegetables, turkey, brisket, lemon raspberry pie, hazelnut butter bites, and much more! (And it was all paleo!) The cookies that I made were gone! I think that there should be more Paleo Pot Luck dinner parties! :)

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been inspired to make paleo chocolate chip cookies because chocolate chip cookies are something that I grew up making, and I could probably make them in my sleep! So I thought this would be something fun to tackle. Another reason for my inspiration is, tomorrow I will be attending a "Paleo Potluck"! Sounds fun, right?! All of the dishes there will be paleo and it will be really interesting to meet "like minded" paleo peeps! P.S. Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies??! So here goes.. this is my Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe!

1/2 Cup Butter(Raw)
2/3 Cup Beet Sugar
2 Tbsp Date Mash*
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1/3 + 2 Tbsp Cup Coconut Flour
1/3 + 2 Tbsp Almond Flour
1/2 Cup Cacao Nibs

*Date Mash
2 Dates
1 tsp Water
2 tsp Maple Syrup

Take the seed out of the dates, and cut them in small pieces. Put the dates and water into a small bowl and heat in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Mash the dates up as much as you can and add the maple syrup.

1. Cream the butter, beet sugar, cooled date mash, and vanilla together.

Beet Sugar looks and taste pretty close to regular sugar!

I got this 3 pound bag for $4.00!

This is what the date mash will look like

2. Add one egg at a time beating each egg until combined into the mixture.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the baking soda, salt, coconut flour and almond flour.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three different additions, mixing well after each addition.
5. Stir in the cacao nibs.

This is what your finished dough should look like

6. Use a spoon to put dough onto baking sheet and put in a 350 degree oven for 9 minutes.

I like to use parchment paper for easy clean up

7. Remove them from the baking sheet immediately so that the bottoms do not burn and let them cool. 

I know some of the ingredients are way out of the norm, but if you are paleo these cookies will definitely satisfy your chocolate chip cookie craving, and will be worth the effort! If you have any questions about what these ingredients are or how to get them just ask! :)

P.S. I still need recipe submissions! So, if you have a favorite recipe or just something you want me to try out send it my way! It doesn't have to be paleo but I might convert it if it's not!

Tough Mudder/ Paleo Diet/ Morning Glory Muffins

My awesome Aunt did the race with me!

So in my first post, About the Author, I talked a little bit about the Tough Mudder. Well that obstacle course that was supposed to be 10 miles ended up being 12!! 12 miles of trail running and obstacles,but I finished! In order to prepare for the race I trained of course, but I also followed the Paleo diet 2 weeks prior to the race. What is the Paleo diet you ask? The Paleo diet is also known as the "hunter, gatherer" diet. Basically all you can eat is meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. I liked the diet so much that I decided to make it a lifestyle. I feel so much better eating this way. :) You should try it.. see if it makes a difference for you. So in all of my Paleo escapades Dr. Krupka found a Paleo cookbook that we really like. Its called Paleo Comfort Foods. I just made a recipe from the book tonight called "Morning Glory Muffins". They are absolutely DELICIOUS! :) Here is the recipe along with some helpful hints from me:

2 1/2 cups Almond Flour
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon (I may have used 2.. hehe)
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 cups Peeled, Grated Carrots
1 Large Apple, Peeled, Cored and Grated
1 cup Shredded Coconut
1 cup Raisins ( I don't like raisins so I went with dates)
3 Large Eggs
2 Tablespoons Honey
1/2 cup Coconut Oil
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

First preheat your oven to 350 degrees and either grease a muffin tin or use paper liners.

Combine the almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the carrot, apple, coconut and dates and combine well. 

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, honey, oil and vanilla extract together. Pour the mixture over the dry ingredients and mix it well. Its going to be thick..

Spoon the batter into the muffin pan and place on the middle rack of the oven.

These don't really rise at all so fill them UP! :)

The book says to let them cook for 40-50 minutes. Mine took about 35 minutes. Definitely keep an eye on them. A toothpick should come out clean.

These are best warm with butter! You could probably add a little bit more honey on top if they aren't sweet enough for you. I like them with out the honey though.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my update! I will be posting more recipes from Paleo Comfort Foods because I really enjoy the book and I know you love seeing how much fun I am having with this! :)

Quinoa Pudding

I don't know how many of you have ever tried homemade rice pudding, but I absolutely love it. I learned how to make it in culinary school but I had never had it fresh before that. I was instantly in love.. Well this is a spin on Rice Pudding, I’ve changed some things up to make it a little bit more health beneficial. Not necessarily healthy but its better than eating a bowl of ice cream.. :) It will be obvious to you that I will not be using rice in this recipe, I will be using quinoa. Some of you may be thinking “Ashley, quinoa, for RICE pudding?? Why not just use rice? How do I even say quinoa??” Well, quinoa is pronounced “keen-wah”. I decided to use quinoa because rice doesn’t have much nutritional value. Quinoa is actually a seed (not a grain) that has twice as much protein as rice! So you can get a little bit of extra protein in your dessert! You can't get that out of rice! You will also notice that I used Almond milk instead of cows milk. So for those of you who are lactose intolerant, rejoice! I use the almond milk for other reasons but I’ll write about that some other time. Also, if you are gluten intolerant have no fear! This is completely gluten free! Unfortunately it is NOT calorie free.... Anyway, hope you try it out and if you do, let me know how it goes!

2 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Quinoa
3 1/2 to 4 Cups Vanilla Almond Milk
1/8 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Large Pinch Allspice
1 Vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract)
Raspberries (or any berries) for topping

In a medium saucepan, over low heat, bring 4 cups of almond milk to a very low simmer, turn off the flame and let it rest. The almond milk will burn more easily than regular milk, so be careful not to get it too hot.
In a large saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter. Add the quinoa and stir to coat. Ladle in just enough warm milk to cover the quinoa. Stir over the low flame.

The quinoa will begin to absorb the milk.  When the milk is almost fully absorbed, ladle in more warm milk.  Stir until absorbed.  Continue this process.

Look for your milk to bubble like this but remember to keep your flame low! Almond milk burns fast!

Taste the quinoa as you near the end of the milk.  You may only need 3 1/2 cups of milk instead of 4.  As you add the last of the milk, also incorporate the sugar, salt, spices, and scraped vanilla beans.  Stir well to combine.

Just a little measuring spoon love..

Stir over low heat until the milk is gone and the quinoa is tender.  This will take about 20 minutes.
Serve warm or cold, although I ate mine so fast that it didn’t have time to get cold. The berries on top are nice but they are certainly optional. 

If you don’t eat all of the quinoa pudding.. (haha, yea right) it will last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Meet the Author!

Hi! Thanks for reading my blog! I wanted to tell you a little bit about what makes me, me in my first post! I'm 23 years old and I'm from the BIG, beautiful state of TEXAS! I live in an apartment with my roomie/cousin Aubrey. We have lots of fun together, when we see each other.. We both have very separate lives so we don't see each other often. If we do see each other it always seems to be late at night, and once we get started talking its hard to stop us. When we do plan time together we always have a ton of fun!

Meet my parents! Layne and Cheryl!

Meet my older brother Daniel and his wife Kirsten!

Meet my younger brother Andrew!

Meet Snickers! 

So.. a little bit more about me.. I graduated culinary school back in 2009. I had a blast at culinary school but decided restaurant life is not for me. Instead, I work for a Chiropractic Functional Medicine Doctor. What is Functional Medicine you ask? Well, check out this link! I love my job because I love nutrition and a very large part of what we do involves nutrition. Anyone who has tried to eat healthfully knows that it doesn't always taste very good. My goal is to change your mind! :) I'm on a bit of a journey myself with diet and nutrition so I hope that you enjoy reading about and maybe even learn from my struggles/experience! If you have any healthy recipes that you want me to try out feel free to e-mail them to me and if I choose your recipe then I will write a post about it!

Also, in October I will be doing a 10 mile obstacle course called the Tough Mudder! So you can keep track of my progress here! I think that it will be a lot of fun but also a lot of work. I'm excited to see how it goes!