Protein Pancakes aka Paleo in Wyoming

This post comes to you from the depths of Wyoming, where gluten-free is as existent as flying pigs. But compromise is out of the question for me, and I've already gotten good at improvising in a pinch.

Breakfast is always the hardest meal on Paleo. Smoothies and scrambled eggs just get old after a while. Enter protein pancakes. A delicious, nutritious alternative that melts in your mouth. I even got my grandpa to eat them multiple times.

I've been experimenting with this recipe for quite a while. The trick is all in how you cook them, so be careful or you'll end up with mush.

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons chopped almonds ( or coconut or almond flour, if you are not me and not in Wyoming for two weeks.)

Method:

Heat griddle to 350 degrees. These also cook well in a cast-iron skillet. Coat griddle with a bit of your oil of choice.

Mash bananas until mushy. Mix in remaining ingredients. The amount of nut flour will depend on how ripe the bananas are. The batter will be slightly thicker than regular pancake batter, but not lumpy pudding.

Scoop 1/3 cup batter onto griddle and spread around a little with cup or spatula to get a relatively normal shape. Let cook almost all the way through (2 -3 minutes) then loosen edges carefully and flip. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute more, or til brown. Remove from griddle. Repeat with remaining batter. Makes approximately 6 pancakes.

Top with peanut or almond butter, peaches, blueberries, coconut whipped cream, maple syrup or some combination thereof. Yum!

Cashew Tomato Pasta

This was my first introduction to the nuttiness of cashews in cooking creations. I was swept off my feet and haven't looked back since. For me, this is the closest I get to parmesan cheese. And it works surprisingly well. (Thankfully, nuts are one of the few things I'm NOT allergic to :) )

1/2 package of brown rice spaghetti
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
3/4 cup cashews
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
5-10 leaves fresh basil
Salt to taste
Black pepper (preferably coarse ground)

Begin boiling water to cook pasta.

In a medium sized food processor, blend sauce, cashews, oil and seasonings, except pepper. Mixture will be slightly chunky.

Pour into a medium sauce pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking.

After pasta is cooked, drain off water and return pasta to pan. Pour sauce over pasta and mix well.

Serve garnished with pepper and fresh basil.

Pumpkin Pie

It's funny the things you miss when you can't have them. Take pumpkin pie. I've always loved any food item that incorporated pumpkin, but I never ate much pumpkin pie. But with the leaves changing and Thanksgiving just around the corner, I decided I needed to make myself a pie.

The crumb crust was inspired by a cheesecake I used to make. Also, I'm having difficulties perfecting a good pastry dough. (I'm super close, as am I to perfecting a cinnamon roll recipe.)



Crust:

1 cup almond flour
1 cup pecans, crushed (put nuts in a plastic ziploc bag, seal and bang them with something very hard, like an ice cream scooper)
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp vegan butter or coconut oil
Sprinkle of salt

Sift almond flour and pecans together in bowl. Add maple syrup and melted butter. Mix with a fork until moistened. (It will be crumbly.)

Pour into pie plate and press around bottom and up sides.

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Pie:

10 oz  pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup coconut milk (This is the canned kind, for cooking, not the carton kind found in the grocery store by the soy and almond milk. I found it in the international food section.)
2 eggs
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg

Mix all ingredients with a whisk or electric mixer. (Mixture will be runny.) Pour into pie crust.

Bake pie for 30-40 minutes, or until middle is set. Let cool to room temperature, then chill in refrigerator.

Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

Thai food. Spicy, limey, peanuty. Yum.

So this isn't exactly Thai, but it's one of the best impersonations I've come across so far...

I modified this recipe from this original source.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy aminos
2 tbsp coconut flour
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp peanut butter
sprinkle salt and pepper
2 chicken breasts, cubed
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cups broccoli
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 tsp hot chili oil
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 eggs

Method:

Mix soy aminos, flour, garlic, peanut butter and salt and pepper in small bowl. Add chicken and mix to coat.

Pour 1 tbsp of both oils in a large skillet. Add chicken and broccoli. Cook and stir until chicken is done. Cover and simmer until broccoli is tender.

Meanwhile, whisk chili oil, honey, vinegar and sesame oil together.

When broccoli is tender, add cashews and chili mixture to pan. While cooking, scramble eggs and add to pan. Cook until eggs are done.

Serve with brown rice, brown rice noodles or quinoa.

Substitutions: IF you are allergic to nuts, or just to cashews, as I know some of you are, you might try adding chopped almonds to this. If you're allergic to peanuts, I'm not sure I can help you, though almond butter might work as well!

Curry Bake

This was one of my first non- rice and bean meals under my new lifestyle. This recipe can easily be prepped and cooked in 30 to 45 minutes. Take that Rachel Ray!  I'd like to experiment more with making an actual sauce with the leftover broth for the chicken, but that would lengthen the cooking time. So for now, we'll go with quick and simple.

Ingredients:

1 small head of broccoli
2 zucchini
2 summer squash
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1/2 medium onion
1 pound chicken thighs, approximately 6 (boneless skinless thighs are easier to work with, either will do)
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp curry
1 tbsp basil
Salt and pepper

Method:

Slice broccoli, zucchini, squash, bell peppers and onion. Spread in the bottom of a 13"x9" baking dish.
Lay chicken thighs in veggies. Pour broth over mixture in pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice, garlic, curry, basil and salt and pepper.

Bake 30-45 minutes at 375 degrees, or until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender. This is delicious on it's own, or over rice pasta, brown rice or sweet potatoes.

On the Go Tip No. 2

Apples and almond or peanut butter are a great snack away from home. Especially during the fall and winter, I keep a jar of nut butter and a few apples at work for easy access. For a special treat, add a few chocolate chips :-)

Beaver Bay Cookie Bars

This is probably my second most requested recipe following the banana bread.  I perfected it when I brought it on my church's camping trip. And we all gobbled them right up. I love this recipe because it's simple. I memorized the recipe the first time I made it and will spout it to anyone who will listen. What can I say? I like sharing the love...of baking that is ;)



Ingredients:

2 cups peanut butter (Adam's Peanut Butter is the best for this recipe, though I suppose you could use another brand)
1 cup coconut sugar
1 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup almond flour
1-2 cups chocolate chips

Method:

Mix peanut butter, sugar, syrup, eggs and vanilla until 'creamed' with an electric mixer. This won't turn out like regular creamed cookie dough, but the eggs will get a little fluffy :) Add baking soda and almond flour and mix well. The dough will be slightly gooey due to the maple syrup. With a spatula mix in chocolate chips. (You can never really have too many chocolate chips, so use at your own discretion.)

Pour dough onto greased cookie sheet (mine was about 12" x 14"). Bake 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.  The sheet will be golden brown on top and no longer gooey in the middle, but it won't be as solid as traditional cookie dough.

Let cool and set for 10 minutes or so, then cut into bars. Delicious for a morning snack with an americano, an after dinner treat with friends, or to munch on while journaling by the water.

Note: These make great traditional cookies as well. I cut the recipe in half to make approximately 10-12. As they bake, they spread out a little more than traditional cookie dough, so give them plenty of room to grow.

On The Go Tip No. 1

Find a salad bar. This one is from Whole Foods and has sweet potato chips crumbled on top. Yum! And it cost me approximately $7. Happy girl right here :-)