Faux Garlic Mashed Potatoes using Cauliflower

In my brave attempt to try new vegetables, I decided to give the cauliflower mashed potatoes a try.  I'm glad I did!  They were pretty close to the real thing and would have been even better with butter and cheese - I avoided that.  I served these with the buffalo chicken bites and it made for a great dinner.  Especially when you scoop up some potatoes and some buffalo chicken in one bite.  I just freaked out a few of y'all I know - the ones who cannot let their food touch each other :)

Faux Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 cloves garlic  

1. Chop up the head of cauliflower into chunks.  I placed these into my Pampered Chef bowl that has a top on it.  Pour 1/4 cup of water into the bowl and put the lid on it.  Cook in the microwave for 15 minutes.  This lid does not fit tight but allows the cauliflower to steam as it cooks.

2. When the cauliflower is done, drain it and try to press out as much water as you can.  Transfer it to a bowl and add the 3 cloves of garlic.  Mash together and serve.  You can season with salt and pepper if you would like!

3. Here was my finished product!

 

 

 

Buffalo Chicken Bites

Winner, Winner - Chicken Dinner!

I found another great recipe off of www.paleomg.com for buffalo chicken mini meatloaf.  I decided to make them into balls so that they might cook faster and I might not eat as much :)!  I had also been wanting to try the faux mashed potatoes using steamed cauliflower.  It turned out to be an awesome meal!  I stayed away from the diary.....the cauliflower did taste like mashed potatoes and I'm sure would have been even better with a slab of butter and some cheese on it.  Oh well, it was still good!

Buffalo Chicken Bites

(this is paleomg.com's recipe for meatloaf - I just formed them into balls)

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour
• 3-4 tablespoons hot sauce (I used Franks Red Hot Sauce)
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/4 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• salt and pepper to taste  

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place all ingredients in a bowl and use your hands to mix thoroughly.

2. Form mixture into 1 inch balls and bake for 30 minutes.

3. After 30 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle some additional Frank's Red Hot Sauce on top of each ball.  Return to the oven and cook for 5 more minutes.

Take out and serve with faux mashed potatoes.  See the next post for the potato recipe.

      

Paleo Breakfast Cookies

Here is a great cookie recipe that is actually called a breakfast cookie.  I've eaten them for dessert....I just can't bring myself to eat a cookie for breakfast.  It just seems wrong :)

Paleo Breakfast Cookies

• 1/4 cup pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie in a can)
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup almond flour/meal
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup paleo chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil.  Combine all wet ingredients together.

2. Mix well and add the dry ingredients.

3. Scoop batter to whatever size cookie you would like and flatten them out to the desired thickness since these do not spread on their own.  Bake approximately 10-15 minutes according to thickness.  My first batch I cooked for 15 minutes and they were not done enough.  My second batch was 20 minutes and it was too done.  So pick a number in between those! :)  These are really good chilled so I keep mine in the fridge.

 

 

    

Paleo Bacon and Chive Sweet Potato Biscuits

Have you visited PaleOMG?

I came across a website/blog that I love.  I read about her in the CrossFit magazine and her website is www.paleomg.com. What I love about her is that she is really creative in her Paleo cooking but also enjoys nonPaleo food when she wants.  Isn't that the balance we are all looking for?  She had this recipe listed as a Thanksgiving side dish but since it was a biscuit, I thought I could make them and use them as buns on my hamburger sliders.  They were great.  I even had a leftover one the next night just plain.  I'm sure it would be great with a big ol' slab of butter on it too, but I didn't go there.

Bacon and Chive Sweet Potato Biscuits

from paleOMG.com

• 2 large sweet potatoes (equivalent to 2 cups mashed)
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour
• 3 eggs, whisked
• 6-8 strips of bacon, diced
• leftover rendered fat from bacon OR 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 3/4 tablespoons chives, thinly diced
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 415 degrees.

2. Poke holes in your sweet potatoes with a fork.  Her original recipe called for 1 large sweet potato, but from the looks of mine I knew it would not make 2 cups of mashed potatoes.  I could two of them and I had the perfect amount. 

3. Wrap in foil and cook for one hour or until soft.

4.  When the sweet potato is almost done cooking, place your diced bacon into a skillet and brown until crispy.  You can use the left over fat from the bacon for your rendered fat in your biscuits.  I did not use this - I used the melted coconut oil instead.

5. When your potatoes are done, peel and place in a bowl and mash.

6. Then add in your eggs and mix well.  Add your bacon fat or coconut oil and mix well.

7. Add your dry ingredients: coconut flour, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.

8. Finally add your bacon and chives.  Mix thoroughly.

9. Now line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I used nonstick foil) and use a large spoon to drop your biscuits on the sheet, shaping them as needed.  Place in oven and bake for 27 minutes.

We enjoyed these on our lean meat, hamburger sliders.  They were very good.  Anything to substitute for bread is worth a shot for me.  Here is a picture of our dinner!  YUMMY!

 

 

  

   

        

Paleo No-Bake Cow Patty Cookies

I love cow patties!

Growing up my grandmother and I would make these no-bake cookies we called cow patties.  Obviously they got their name because they look like a pile of poo.  But they tasted so good.  They were made of oatmeal, chocolate and a few other ingredients.  I was excited when I found a recipe on Pinterest for a similar cookie.  These were SO easy and SO good.  I only had shredded coconut which is shredded really fine.  Next time I'll be sure to get the flaked coconut because I think the bigger pieces would give the cookies a better texture.

Paleo No-Bake Cow Patties

• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 cup Paleo chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/3 honey
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Heat chocolate chips, oil, honey and almond butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Melt the chocolate chips and almond butter until they are a smooth consistency.

 

2. Turn off heat and add cinnamon, nuts and coconut.  Be sure to coat everything in the chocolate.

3. Drop a spoonful on a parchment (I used non stick foil) lined cookie sheet.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until hardened.  I used my melon scoop to measure out my cookies.

 

This is the best Paleo dessert so far!

 

 

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

What is a brussel sprout?!

I will be honest here.  I didn't even know what a brussel sprout looked like.  A couple in my CrossFit class had posted a picture of their dinner that included brussel sprouts and that is how I was able to identify them at the grocery store.  Sad...I know.  I can't believe how brave I've become in trying new vegetables.  The most surprising thing of all - Jesse liked these.  

Bacon Brussel Sprouts

• 1 pound brussel sprouts
• 5 slices of bacon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• 3 tablespoons honey
• garlic powder 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Start off by trimming a pound of brussel sprouts.  I took a picture of the container that the sprouts came in.  This container held a pound of them.

2. Trim off the brown ends and then quarter them.

2.  Put these in a bowl and add the olive oil.  Sprinkle with garlic powder and mix again.  Spread these out on a nonstick surface.  I used the nonstick foil on a cookie sheet to do these.

3. Place these in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes.  Jesse and I like these roasted with plenty of dark, toasted spots on them.  Just keep an eye on these that last 10 minutes to get them to your liking.  While these are cooking, go ahead and cook up your bacon and chop it into pieces.

4. When your brussel sprouts are done remove them from the oven and place them into a bowl.  Add the honey and mustard.  Stir really good to coat all of the sprouts.  Add the bacon and mix again.

 5. I admit I was scared to try these.  They turned out great and we've enjoyed them a second time already.

 

 

 

 

 

      

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

After enjoying my banana pancakes for so long now I figured I could try it with pumpkin too.  The first time I made these they turned out okay, but not great.  A banana offers plenty of sweetness to pancakes but the pumpkin didn't.  The second time I made these I added a little honey to the batter and it was much better.  These are still very hard to turn so I made them into silver dollar pancakes and waited patiently to make sure they cooked all the way through before flipping them.  They smell wonderful when cooking!

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not canned pumpkin pie)
• 1 egg
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1. Measure out 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin.  You DO NOT want the canned pumpkin pie.

2. Combine pumpkin and 1 egg in a bowl.  Mix well.  Add all of the spices and the honey.

3. This batter is thinner than the banana pancake batter.  Therefore I suggest you make these into small silver dollar pancakes so they are easier to flip.

4. Be patient and let these cook fully on one side.  It makes the flipping much easier.  I had these plain but you could also drizzle them with a little honey.  Very yummy!!!