Paleo Cocoa Pecan Fudge

I put the following ingredients in a saucepan:(since I'm going to heat it a little on the stove to mix it completely)

1 cup coconut cream concentrate
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup honey (1/4 might be enough for you....)2 TBSP dark cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
 I heated this on LOW and stirred with with a wooden spoon.  When it was completely mixed, and very thick, I added:

1/4 cup pecan pieces

I rubbed coconut oil on a little pan. It was like a bread pan but more shallow. (use what you have)
I pressed the fudge mixture into the pan and placed it in the freezer for 30 minutes before I cut it into pieces and enjoyed a piece!

Isn't it beautiful? It's really pretty on a plate with my Paleo Pumpkin Pepita Fudge.  Know what else is pretty? Coach Cindy competing in the masters section of the VOA Games today. We are so proud of her, and Cassie Poff, and, of course, Ger!

Paleo Pumpkin Pepita Fudge

tropicaltraditions.com had their 32 oz Coconut Cream Concentrate buy one, get one free not too long ago, so today, being the first day of fall break, 2013, I prepped a jar and came up with a couple of paleo fudge recipes.
Here's the first one. I know Ger and Cassie will love this when they get back from the Voice of America Games. (they're doing so well!)

I put the following ingredients in a saucepan:(since I'm going to heat it a little on the stove to mix it completely)

1 cup coconut cream concentrate
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup honey (1/4 might be enough for you....)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of sea salt

 I heated this on LOW and stirred with with a wooden spoon.  When it was completely mixed, and very thick, I added:

1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds - I love the ones from nuts.com)

I rubbed coconut oil on a little pan. It was like a bread pan but more shallow. (use what you have)
I pressed the fudge mixture into the pan and placed it in the freezer for 30 minutes before I cut it into pieces and enjoyed a piece!

                          325 lbs a couple of times - all in a day's work. - VOA Games

Cilantro Lime Slow Cooked Salmon

I have a couple of recipes on this blog for a big slab of salmon and they are delicious. Tonight I'd been thinking about PF Changs and how moist their steamed salmon is. So, I made this salmon a different was and we are all just loving how moist it is! You will have success, too - it's easy!

I moved an oven rack to the bottom of my oven and placed a glass baking dish filled half-way with water on the bottom rack.
I heated the oven to 225 degrees. (slow, moist heat, right????)

I covered a huge baking sheet with foil and rubbed coconut oil on it. Then I placed the big slab of salmon on there.
I brushed it with garlicgold.com's Garlic Gold. It's garlic-infused olive oil with minced garlic in it. I used a couple of tsps. (If you don't have that, you can brush it with olive oil or coconut oil, and sprinkle it with minced garlic.)
I added sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, fresh cilantro and 2 sliced limes. I squeezed the juice from the ends of the lime on it, too.
I put it in the oven for one hour.
It was perfect.

If you aren't loving cilantro, it would be amazing with parsley, too, but go fresh if you can!
Garlic - cilantro - lime - salmon - that is one powerhouse meal full of health insurance!

                                                   
                                                     Here it is before it was slow-steamed.

Spaghetti Squash Bowl

This recipe brought to you by Cass Poff!

I first prepared the chicken because I knew it would take the longest. I heated the oven to 400 degrees and oiled my pan with coconut oil. I placed the chicken on the pan, then seasoned the chicken with cherrywood smoked sea salt, garlic gold nuggets, and pepper to taste. I placed it in the oven for 20 mins.

Next I prepared the spaghetti squash. I used Jess Sasser's instructions; poke some holes in the squash, cook for 10 mins on high in the microwave, then turn it over and cook for 7 mins on the other side. When it was finished, I cut it in half and took the seeds out.

To put it all together, I cut up the chicken and put it in the squash, added sugar free marinara sauce, and finally shredded some white extra sharp cheddar cheese on top.

I'm on a roll with the "SassPoff" lunches lately! ;)

Cassie turned in an amazing performance at the Voice of America Games - September 28, 2013.

Canadian Black Bear Roast

Our dinner was pretty impressive last night. We had a lovely chunk of black bear meat that Darren shot with a bow in Canada. Before I tell you how I marinated it and cooked it, let's meet the bear:

He was big and strong and brave, and full of blueberries. (Actually, that describes both Darren AND the bear....)  This photo was from when they crossed back into the US.
Darren and Shannon WOD at Crossfit Countdown and were generous enough to give us a big chunk of that beast. After checking with a local bear guru and doing a little research, here's how I honored the bear:

I hadn't eaten or cooked bear before, so I didn't know if I wanted to cut the "game" taste or not. I did know that bear needs to be cooked very thoroughly and that the more tender it is, the better, so I marinated it overnight in:

1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 tsp basil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 TBSP garlic oil (garlicgold.com)
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt

The next morning I poured off and threw away the marinade.
I put the following items, in this order,  into my slow cooker:

1 TBSP coconut oil
1 1/2 cups organic chicken stock
2 stalks celery, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
the big chunk of bear meat
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tsp smoked sea salt
1 TBSP minced garlic (garlicgold.com)
1/4 tsp red pepper

I put the lid on and set it for 9 hours on low. (it was BIG)
I wondered all day how wonderful my kitchen might be smelling.... and in a huge gifted and talented meeting at the high school, I asked if there were any questions... My son, Isaac, asked what was for dinner! Now, this wasn't a gifted class scheduling question, but it proves that he was thinking about that bear for dinner, too! (He told me later that some of his friends didn't believe that he was having Canadian Black Bear for dinner....)
I got home and peeled a lot of organic carrots and cooked them in a pot of water with a lid so they would hurry. Then I threw them into the slow cooker and stirred everything up.
WOWZA!

If you have some bear in your freezer, thaw it out and get busy! (I'm doing this with deer soon, too)

Paleo Blueberry Pecan Bread

You'll want to make this recipe with nice organic blueberries. I was lucky enough to have some brought to me from Canada - taken away from a 200+ lb black bear! ( The black bear recipe is tomorrow - a nice chunk of him is marinating in the fridge right now..... boy, we have some of the best friends in the world - Darren and Shannon Roberts.)

Here's how I honored the blueberries:
I stirred the dry ingredients together in a big bowl:

1  1/2 cups almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
 2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda

I stirred the wet ingredients up in a small bowl:

1 TBSP coconut oil, melted
2 TBSP local honey
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
4 organic eggs

Next, I mixed the wet ingredients into the dry.
I gently folded in 1  1/4 cups wild Canadian blueberries AND 1/2 cup pecan pieces.

I poured this into a 9 x 9 square baking dish that had been rubbed with coconut oil.
I baked it in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. (Oven times vary - you may want to look at yours at 30 minutes OR need to go a little past 35 minutes.)

                                                      Mikko thought it smelled so good!

Paleo Island Crunch

I love my Pumpkin Paleo Crunch. Love it. People tell me how great it is. People eat it with coconut milk when they are craving cereal. I love my Paleo Apple Pecan Crunch, too, Yum! 

I wanted to make a new one that's all tropical and "island-y."  So, on this beautiful September Sunday, I worked on this new recipe. I have to tell you, I absolutely love it!


I put the following ingredients into a huge bowl:


1  1/2 cups macadamia nut pieces
1  1/2 cups almond flour (I like unblanched)
3 cups unsweetened coconut chips ( you know I love the big chunky kind from nuts.com)
2 cups pecans, broken into pieces ( sometimes I do 1 cup sunflower seeds and 1 cup pumpkin seeds, instead)
2/3 cup walnut pieces
2 TBSP cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of sea salt
1 cup freeze-dried pineapple (Crunchies brand has no sugar)
1/2 cup dried banana chips (look for ones without sugar)
1/2 cup dried mango ( again, no sugar, if you can find it. I cut mine up with scissors since it was in big pieces)

I stirred that up so the baking soda was intermixed in all the ingredients.

I put the following ingredients in a small bowl:
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup local honey ( if you use raw honey, heat it just a bit until liquid)
1 TBSP vanilla

I whisked the wet ingredients and then stirred them into the dry ones in the huge bowl.

I spread this mixture out on two big heavy-duty cookie sheets. (If you don't have big ones, you may need 3 cookie sheets - you don't want the mixture TOO thick when you spread it out)
I baked them for an hour in a 250 degree oven - yes, 250 - low heat because we are looking for the crunch!
Then I took them out and stirred them and spread them back out and put them back into the oven for another 20 minutes.

Just wait until you throw a bite in your mouth that has macadamia nut, pecan, pineapple, and mango, and coconut..... it may be my absolute favorite! Let me know if it's yours, too.

I love this photo of Ger working towards his 2013 1st place finish in Toronto at the Outlaw Pro Invitational.

Cheesy Kale Chips with No Cheese

I love my Kale Chip recipes here on the blog...love them all... the ones in the oven, the ones in the dehydrator, the Aisian ones, the garlic ones, etc!  Yet, now and then, I would still pay BIG money for the ones at Whole Foods - they had this "cheesy" stuff on them that I loved, but there was no cheese in the ingredients.

There was, however, nutritional yeast. This is not the yeast like you make bread with. It doesn't feed bad things in your body like infections. Many paleo people think it's fine - some don't. But, I read a lot and decided that I would buy a little at Whole Foods on my next trip and try it for myself. I'm so glad I did! It's really good and doesn't take much, or cost much.

I tore one bunch of organic kale into bite-sized pieces. I put it into a very large bowl. I added 1 TBSP melted coconut oil, and mixed this up with my hands until the kale was lightly coated. I spread this out on 2 big pans. I sprinkled the kale with seat salt, minced garlic, smoked paprika. (no measuring here, just a little of each.) I then measured 1 TBSP nutritional yeast and sprinkled it over the 2 pans.

I cooked them for 45 minutes in a 200 degree oven, stirring once in that time.  I also immediately started making another batch. Yum. I hope I never again pay $9. for a little container of kale chips!

Kill Cliff Double Awesomeness Popsicles

Many of you are familiar with my Kill Cliff Kiwi Popsicle recipe using The Tasty flavor. They are so good! They help you "test positive for Awesome!" I've had a few of the new flavor now, called Double Awesomeness and have been thinking about what fruit would compliment it in a popsicle and raspberry was the clear winner!  These are so simple and are anti-inflammatory and cool you off in a frozen awesomeness kind of way. So, try them soon.

I took one can of Double Awesomeness Kill Cliff, and several fresh raspberries out of the fridge. I put one whole raspberry into each popsicle compartment.
In a small bowl, I mashed several raspberries with a fork - maybe 10 of them. I slowly poured the Kill Cliff into the raspberries and stirred. Then I filled the popsicle compartments with this mixture. I added the last of the smashed raspberries with a spoon.
I didn't fill completely - things expand when they freeze, especially if they have a little carbonation. I put the handles into the popsicle compartments and carefully set them into the freezer so they would be level. (and not get spilled before they froze)

Later, they were so delicious, just perfect after a hot, sweaty WOD.  The only thing that might make them better is eating them astride a unicorn, under a waterfall, right?

My popsicle molds didn't hold the entire Kill Cliff, but I would never waste even one drop. Ahhhhh.

Banger Sausage Kabobs

I love kabobs - all that delicious protein and veggie on a stick, with simple clean-up....what's not to love?

I cut each banger sausage into 4-5 pieces.
I cut up some fresh yellow pepper.
I rinsed off some grape tomatoes.
I soaked some skewers.

I alternated ingredients onto the skewers and laid them across a big aluminum-foil-covered pan.
I brushed them with melted coconut oil.
 I sprinkled them with smoked sea salt (salttraders.com) and organic minced garlic. (garlicgold.com)
I tore some fresh basil leaves and tossed them on top!

 I put them into a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.
They were so lovely!