Paleo, Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband and I are in the middle of a 30 day Paleo Challenge. Adjusting to not consuming any processed foods (including flour) has been a little of adjustment for us, I LOVE TO BAKE! Of course, within reason...I make cookies every once in a while as a treat! I had no idea how to adjust baking without the use of flour, but luckily I have discovered the magical, wonder of almond meal! I absolutely LOVE this stuff! It makes a great substitute for real flour and adds a nice nutty flavor to everything I have baked. Here is a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I came up with after trying a few others out. We love these cookies and they are pretty filling with the pecans and almond flour in them!

1 1/4 cup almond flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pecans whole or halves (not chopped yet)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

½ cup coconut oil 

1/4 cup honey

1 cup chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips)

1. Mix almond flour and baking soda together. 

2. Place pecans in a food processor and pulse until you get a very fine flour, but not so much you get pecan butter. 

3. Add pecans to almond flour mixture with a fork and blend well. 

4. In smaller bowl, mix vanilla, egg, coconut oil, and honey. 

5. Combine the wet ingredients and dry ingredients with the chocolate chips. The dough will be really sticky.

6. Using a small spoon (I use a melon baller) spoon dough onto a cookie sheet. The size of the cookie should be about a heaping tablespoon.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until tops are toasted brown.

8. VERY IMPORTANT -Let cool 10 minutes before picking up of they will fall apart.

Click here for a printable recipe

The Skinny: 20 @ 174 calories

source

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Overnight Baked Oatmeal

I love a good hot breakfast and when a friend made this oatmeal for our MOPS group I was in love! This oatmeal is the perfect balance of well cooked oats, with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon! It is slightly sweetened, but not too sugary so everyone is sure to love it! It's a great hot breakfast that you can prepare the night before and bake in the morning to give your family a healthy start to the day! 
Best of all, it's a hearty 325 calories per serving!!

1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cup of sugar (you can use brown or white)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups skim milk
3 cups of quick cooking oatmeal
3 cups of old fashioned oatmeal
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 cups of frozen berry mix (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
1/2 cup of sliced almonds

1. Mix applesauce, oil, sugar, vanilla, milk, and eggs in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
3. Combine dry and wet ingredients and stir until just blended.
4. Add the frozen berry mix and stir slightly.
5. Place oatmeal in a greased 9x13 cake pan and refrigerate overnight.
6. The next day, top oatmeal with almonds and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.


The Skinny: Serves 10 @ 325 calories

source

Enjoy!

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Bow Tie Pasta and Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Bow Tie Pasta and Creamy Mushroom Sauce
My husband and I are counting our calories again and I made this recipe tonight for dinner. We were both excited at how much this dish filled us up and was so tasty!! My son kept calling it "butterfly pasta" and enjoyed it too. It will definitely be a repeat recipe of ours! 

12 ounces uncooked bow tie pasta
1 tablespoon light butter
8 ounces portobello mushrooms, sliced*
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced*
1 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Cook bow tie pasta in pan according to directions on package.
2. At the same time while cooking pasta, heat olive oil in pan.
3. Add onions and shallots to olive oil and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes.
4. Add garlic to onions and cook for 1 minute.
5. Add sliced mushrooms, salt, pepper, and white wine to onion/garlic mixture. Cook until mushrooms are tender.
6. Add cooked bow tie pasta, whipping cream, cheese, and 2 tablespoons parsley to mushrooms. Toss pasta to coat. Salt and pepper to taste if needed.
7. Serve with crusty bread on the side and enjoy!

* You can substitute any type of mushroom for this dish, just make it a full 12 ounces. 

The Skinny: Serves 6 @ 352 calories

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Mom's Sweet Potato Casserole

Yesterday I received a call from my sister Luci requesting my husband's mother's Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe. She said, "I looked for it on the blog, but I couldn't find it." That is when I realized I have never posted this very popular dish of my husband's family. In fact, my husband says every year how this dish is his favorite of all the Thanksgiving dishes. This dish has been liked by so many, that I have given out the recipe too many times to count (hopefully it's not a secret family recipe!) The dish can be made the night before for easy baking. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! (I will try to take a picture of the casserole myself this Thanksgiving, until then here's one I found online that looks similar.)

source

8 medium sweet potatoes or 8 medium yams
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 stick melted)
1/3 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour

1. Boil sweet potatoes or yams till soft. Mash together.
2. Mix mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup melted butter, evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla. Mix together and beat well.
3. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan.
4. Now make the topping. Mix brown sugar, flour, and pecans together.
5. Mix in remaining cup of melted butter (about 1/4 cup). Mix well.
6. Pour topping on top of potatoes.
7. Bake 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

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Carrot Risotto

The other week, my husband and I went out to dinner and I had the most wonderful carrot risotto. I decided to try making my own at home and made this recipe the other night for dinner. It was my first time making risotto and my husband and I LOVED it!

You will need the following ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups of carrots, peeled and chopped in food processor
1/2 tsp. salt
1 teaspoon sugar
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth if going vegetarian)
1/2 small onion, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Salt & Pepper to taste

To start, melt 1 tbsp. oil and 1 tbsp. butter over medium heat in large pan.

Chop carrots to be very small and uniform in size. I used a food processor. Don't puree them.

Add carrots to pan with oil and stir with a wooden spoon until well coated.

Add 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tsp. salt, and the sugar. Cover and cook until tender, about 5-8 minutes.

Once tender, uncover and cook until all water evaporates. Separate carrots, put half in a bowl

and the other half in a blender with 3/4 cup of hot water. Purée in blender till smooth.

Heat remaining oil and butter in same pan used for carrots.

Add chopped onion.

Cook onion until translucent, about 3-4 minutes.

While the onion is cooking, in a separate pan, bring your broth to a boil.

Once onion is cooked, add the rice and coat with the oil. Cook for 1 minute. (When making risotto, cooking the rice in oil before adding liquid helps the rice to absorb the liquids slowly with becoming soggy. This is called "Toasting the Rice.")

After rice is browned, add in 1/2 cup white wine to deglaze the pan. 

And if you can drink alcohol. Pour yourself a glass of wine and sip while cooking the rest of the meal. (I am pregnant, so my photographer husband enjoyed the wine while I cooked.)

Once the wine evaporates, add the carrot purée.

Stir rice and  purée together and cook until mixture is thick.

Now it's time for the broth, ladle up 1/2 cup hot broth.

Pour broth in your rice/carrot mixture. 

Stir until rice absorbs most of the liquid. 

Repeat process, adding 1/2 cup broth each time and stirring often till until the rice absorbs the liquid. You WILL NOT use all the broth. Keep adding the broth only until the rice tastes cooked. (Adding too much broth at the end can result in overcooked risotto. Keep the broth simmering slowly while you add it to the rice. This helps maintain a constant cooking temperature.)

Once the rice is cooked, add in carrots, parsley, thyme, & pepper. Do not over stir. 

Fold in mascarpone and parmesan cheese. Add salt to taste. 

Serve the carrot rissotto garnished with parmesan, parsley, and thyme. Serve with a nice glass of dry white wine and some crusty bread on the side.

Enjoy!

The Skinny: Serves 6 @ 375 calories each

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Potato, Red Onion, and Goat Cheese Pizza

I like to try to cook vegetarian a couple times a week and I made this pizza the other day. It's a great twist on the normal pizza and was super delicious!

First, assemble your ingredients:
8 ounces of small potatoes
3 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium red onion
1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
2 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves

I chose to buy the indigo blue potatoes in a steamer bag. I think the added a nice color to the pizza and they were super easy to cook.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and start cooking your potatoes. If you purchased potatoes in a steamer bag, follow the package directions for cooking in the microwave. If you have just regular potatoes, boil potatoes in a saucepan for about 10 minutes, just until cooked but not mushy.
While potatoes are cooking, cut your onion into 1/4 inch strips. Also strip your thyme sprigs of all their leaves.
Also while waiting on potatoes, mix the olive oil and garlic in a bowl.
Heat a skillet on the stove with a little olive oil and saute your onion strips just till they are a little soft.
Potatoes should be cooked by now, so let them cool slightly so you can slice them into 1/4-inch slices.

Spread cornmeal on your baking sheet and roll out your canned pizza dough onto the sheet. (Depending on how cold you dough is, you might need to roll it out on the countertop to make it roll out to a nice sized pizza. Cold canned dough is easier to work with.)
Cover the pizza dough in the olive oil and garlic mixture. (Pretend it's your sauce.)
Sprinkle mozzarella over dough and arrange potatoes and onion over mozzarella.
Top evenly with goat cheese and thyme. Bake in lower third of oven at 450° for 20 minutes or until browned. (Just a tip if you like crusty pizza, check pizza after 10 minutes and see if you can slide it off the pan to cook directly on the rack. I really crisps up the center.)
When browned, pull out of the oven and slice it up! Serve with some other finger foods...get creative! I chose to serve it with some fresh green beans and orange slices.
It makes for less dishes and it's just an easy and fun pizza night.

The Skinny: Serves 6 @ 309 calories

~Beth

Couscous with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Edamame

After eating out and not working out, my husband and I have been feeling very lazy and unhealthy lately. In my search for a healthy recipe (and vegetarian) last night, I came across this one from Cooking Light. Can we say "Yum!". The flavors of the feta cheese, spices, and couscous went great together. I used the multi-colored couscous to add some more color and served it with multi-grain toasted pita on the side.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup fresh or frozen shelled edamame (soybeans)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/4 cups water, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 (16-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup uncooked couscous
2 cups coarsely chopped green onions
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add edamame, red pepper, and garlic; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in 1/2 cup water, basil, chickpeas, and tomatoes; simmer 15 minutes. Add 1 3/4 cups water and salt; bring to a boil. Gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in onions and feta; toss well.

The Skinny: Serves 5 @ 454 calories. (Really I thought it served enough for 6-7 though)

~Beth