Paleo Pate (dairy, gluten, soy and sugar free)

So, PATE! I have never been a huge lover of store bought pate. It just doesn't sit with me, the mush of things I can not identify and the probability of them being toxic.

As our son is allergic to dairy and soy proteins he could have never tried it any way because every commercially available pate that I checked contained either of this two proteins, as well as sugar and additives. And the meat and/or the liver that they put in it I are neither meat nor liver.

Industrial pate also contains a lot of fat, so OK, we have nothing against animal fat WHEN it is home raised. Industrial animals unfortunately are fed with a lot of things one would never think of putting in their mouth in normal conditions, and all that poison is best gathered in the fat parts of the animal. Why? because it is most soluble in the fat. There is not a one plus why one would eat this industrial kind of a leftover mush.

I never ventured into making it at home before because I believed it to be complicated...and expensive. Well, it is neither!

Before the recipe itself  I wanted to add few more comment. As I have been away from the blog for some time we added some new changes to our cooking. We stopped using traditional salt altogether and are now using only Himalayan salt. This is something I wanted to do for a while now, but dreaded the added expense. But there is none. It is a bit more expensive, but the expense of using Himalayan comes down to 21 kn per month....(the price of 1/2kg), really not much if you include all of the added benefits (Himalayan salt).


INGREDIENTS

• 30 dkg  chicken breast
• 20 dkg goose liver (or any kind of poultry liver)
• 2 medium carrots (cut into chunks)
• 2 Tbsp tahini paste (this is optional; I used Alnatura, which is made from organic sesame without anything else added; If you own a high speed blender make it yourself) 
• 2 Tbsp home made olive oil mayonnaise (this too is optional; will give a recipe in one of the following blog posts)
• Himalayan salt
• Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a salted, boiling water place the meat, the liver and the carrots, and cook for about 30 minutes.
• Place the cooked and drained meat, liver and carrots in a blender and blend until smooth.
• Add in the tahini paste, salt and pepper to taste and blend.
• Add in the mayo (it has to be room temperature or the mayo will separate) and blend.

Paleo potato gnocchi

I absolutely love gnocchi. They can be served with any kind of sauce and are delicious and filling. The problem with the traditional recipe is the flour.

In this recipe I used plain potatoes (sweet potato or squash can be used too and the gnocchi come out equally delicious) because we grow our own organic potatoes.
Also potatoes are very starchy so the amount of added starch can be very small. For the added starch I used tapioca flour because it is gluten free and cheap.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 large potatoes
• 1/2 cup tapioca powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 egg
• lard
• salt
• pepper
• turmeric

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Peel and cook the potatoes in salt water.
• Add in the potatoes salt, turmeric, 1 spoon of lard and blend them (I use handheld blender).
• Add in the egg, baking powder and tapioca and mix well.
• Line a baking pan with baking paper.
• I used a plastic bag with a small hole to make small piles on the baking paper.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• After baking a used a souce I had left from grilling meat in a skillet and just tossed the gnocchi in. But one can use any kind of sauce (simple one spoon lard/olive oil with garlic will do) to coat the gnocchi.

Enjoy!!!

Paleo Kale and Squash quiche

Kale is in season and in the last year I have grown to love it. I'm not going to write about the nutrients it carries you can Google it or take the following link I chose from Googling it.

Paleo quiches can either have a crust that is a nut, tapioca and/or coconut flour mixture OR you can simply use squash as the carrier of the quiche and call it a "crust". For this quiche I chose the latter but decided to add some tapioca flour just to make it a little bit less mushy.

The recipe is pretty simple and one can use whatever squash you have at hand. I used spaghetti squash.


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 6 eggs
• 1 large kale
• 1 large onion
• 1/2 can coconut milk (or any other non dairy milk)
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• lard
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS:

•  Cut one large squash into 4 pieces and bake at 180C for about 1/2 hour.
•  Let cool for a bit and remove the meat and mash it with a fork.
•  Add in the squash salt to taste and the tapioca flour, mix well and gently press into a baking pan.
•  Cut the kale in half and wash thoroughly then cut into thin stripes.
•  In a skillet on a spoon of lard add the sliced onions and after 5 minutes ad the kale.
•  Fry the kale for 20 minutes and then add it to the baking pan.
•  Whisk 6 eggs together with seasoning you like and pour over the kale.
•  Bake the quiche for 40-50 minutes at 170-180 C.

Let the quiche cool for a bit and enjoy! 

Paleo moussaka with squash and coconut sauce (dairy, gluten, sugar free)

Making moussaka without sour cream is quite challenging because the point of this casserole dish is to get a very creamy, milky taste to the potatoes. I used to make this for my dairy allergic child with bechamel sauce.  This sauce worked fine because at the time we still ate gluten. But when that too went out the window I had to try other things to make this work.
What I came up with was the mighty squash. We have a lot of  Hokkaido squash this fall in our garden and they are extra starchy and when baked and blended they can give a nice creamy texture. So to make a sauce that would bake well I mixed this squash puree with some coconut milk and garlic (of course) and the sauce was great.

You can bake a larger amount of squash, puree it and store it in the fridge for multiple use in a course of a couple of days. It will keep.


INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 kg of ground meat (pork/chicken/etc.)
• 1/2 small Hokkaido squash (baked and pureed)
• 1 medium size onion
• 5-6 large potatoes
• 10 dkg sliced bacon
• 1 dcl tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves
• salt
• pepper
• oregano, basil leaves
• lard

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Heat one spoon of lard in a skillet and add in the sliced onions and meat. Gently fry for 15 mintues, sttiring.
• Wash thoroughly whole potatoes, with skin and place in water and boil until cooked.
• In a small skillet put in the tomato paste, add 1 dcl of water, squashed basil and oregano leaves and squashed garlic. Salt and pepper to taste and let simmer for 5 minutes.
• In a small skillet put 1 dcl of coconut milk and add in the squash puree. Mix well and add in the garlic, salt and pepper to taste.
• Stack the moussaka in the order: potato slices in the first layer, then the meat and cover with half of tomato sauce. Then again the potato, meat, tomato and finish with potatos.
• Cover the casserole with squash sauce and put some bacon on top.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180 C.

As one end remark this can be made (and was made) with sweet potatoes also. In that case you don't need to precook the sweet potatoes just slice and stack.

Paleo cheesecake (dairy, soy, gluten free)

First I have to emphasize that making a non dairy cheesecake is somewhat extravagant and not at all vitally important but it is DELICIOUS! 

It's nice to know you can make this faux cheesecake for a child that never tasted cheesecake because of dairy allergy and everybody is always talking about it. As a matter of fact I don't think I know anybody that doesn't love cheesecake. There are a lot of recipes on the web for making this dessert and the base is always ground cashews. This recipe is a variation of cheesecake because of a wonderful gooey toffee that comes on top and I decided to use and remodel this recipe just because of this toffee layer.

Hope you'll try it. It is definitely not a light cake as you end up using half a jar of honey and a small jar of coconut oil with one can of coconut milk but the ingredients are healthy and tasty at the same time.


INGREDIENTS:Crust:

• 1 cup almonds
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/8 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt

Cheesecake Layer:

• 2 cups cashews (boiled for 20 minutes)
• ½ cup coconut oil
• 2 medium ripe bananas
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ¼ cup honey

Toffee:

• 1 can  coconut milk
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• ½ tsp vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS:
 
Crust:

•  Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a pan with parchment paper.
•  Combine all crust ingredients together in medium sized bowl and mix until well combined. Press into   the bottom of the pan.
•  Bake for 15 minutes. 
•  Remove and cool.

Banana Cheesecake layer:

• Add all of the ingredients into a blender, mix until very smooth (about 5 minutes).
• Pour the cheesecake layer on top of the crust and place in the freezer.

Toffee:

• Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Allow to boil lightly for about 60-70 minutes, stirr occasionally.
• As the mixture starts to darken, stir frequently to prevent burning. 
• Once the mixture thickens and has reached an amber color, remove from heat and pour on top of the banana cheesecake layer. Return the pan to the freezer and allow to set for about 1 hour.

Pizza (gluten and dairy free)

I am a huge pizza lover but I always hated how I felt after eating it. Usually it included a heavy stomach and a day of abdominal pain due to intestinal distress. The reason for this would definitely be wheat from the flour and the commercial sour cream.
When we went paleo last year the program that we were on (Whole 30) didn't allow for the period of 30 days paleo desserts and/or paleo junk food including pizza. The reason is that you have to loosen the psychological grip  that this kind of food holds on you. But when unconditioned you can make occasional paleo "junk food", meaning paleo pizza, paleo sandwiches, paleo burgers, etc.
We didn't venture into such foods for a long time because a paleo pizza crust from cauliflower or like didn't seem to me worth the bother.
But when I found the whole manioca/tapioca/coconut flour doughs then a paleo pizza that would be as the real deal became a real possibility.
This pizza doesn't have paleo in the title because I can't guarantee that the sausage we bought had no additives in it, the chances are it had at least some.
It is made form our local meat producer that owns a small farm but still it is not without additives.
 

Pizza before baking with toppings on

The biggest difference in making the paleo pizza is that the dough is baked empty and you add the toppings when the dough is almost baked fully. So the toppings can't be raw.

This was by the way the best tasting pizza I ever had so even if you are not paleo, or gluten/dairy free you should try making it!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3 tbsp ground flax seed (I bought flax in dm and ground it in a coffee grinder)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup lard
• app 1/3 cup warm water
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• 20 dkg sausage
• 20 dkg salami (we bought the one with least additives and from a local farmer)
• 2 medium sized pickles
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• fresh basil and oregano leaves (can be dry also)
• pepper
• salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

• In a bowl combine tapioca, coconut and flax seed flour with baking powder and salt. Stir.
• Add in one mashed garlic clove and warm water and mix well.
• Add in the egg and the lard and knead.
• Line a baking sheet with baking paper and spread the dough on it (layer about 1/3 inch thin).
• Bake until it becomes crispy (about 15-20 minutes).
• Slice the onion and glaze it in a pan for about 5 minutes.
• In a 1/2 cup water dissolve the tomato paste and let boil, then add in olive oil, one mashed garlic clove, basil, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Let boil for 1-2 minutes.
• Place the onions and all of the desired toppings on the dough and pour your tomato sauce over everything and bake for 10 more minutes.

Enjoy!

Paleo flatbread-great for paleo sandwiches and paleo pizza (dairy, soy, grain and sugar free)

We have never been big bread eaters so not eating grain is not something that came hard on us. But having some bread here and now is nice.

Paleo breads are usually made from nut flours or coconut flour and have good portion of eggs in them so they are very moist (zuchinni-bread-coconut-flour). These are nice but discovering paleo flatbread was close to a miracle. This is something you can eat with lunch or make a sandwich with. And everybody that are on paleo know how hard it is to make a paleo sandwich. Usually you use some kind of mushrooms or paleo pancakes. But having flat bread makes it easier, faster and more like ordinary sandwich. This also makes a way for a nice paleo pizza because this flatbread is great as pizza dough.

The one I make is garlic bread because we adore garlic. Recipes on the web for flatbread usually ask for a pizza stone, but as we don't have one we don't use one. I really consider this unnecessary because simple baking pan placed at the bottom of the stove works well enough.


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup tapioca powder

• 1/2 cup coconut flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp fresh oregano leaves

• 3 fresh basil leaves
  

• 1/2 cup olive oil
  

• 1/4 cup water

• 2 whole eggs

• 3 garlic cloves

  INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 

• Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

• Add warmed water, olive oil (1/4 cup) and slightly whisked eggs. 

• Crush the herbs well and add them to the mixture.

• Mix thoroughly, adding additional coconut flour as needed. It should end up being a very sticky dough that can be flattened with a spatula.

• Let sit a few minutes to let coconut flour absorb water.

• Pour onto parchment paper and spread with spatula to 1/4 inch thick.

• Place parchment paper on a baking tray and bake until golden.

• Mix olive oil (1/4 cup) with mashed garlic.

• Remove and add coat with olive oil and mashed garlic mixture.

Stuffed bell peppers (gluten, dairy, soy, sugar free; paleo)

Bell peppers stuffed with minced meat stuffing make a complete meal by itself but the meal can be well enhanced with potato/sweet potato mash.

In the original classic version of the stuffed bell peppers the minced meat is mixed with rice to make it more compact and add the carbohydrates. I also add carbohydrates but the good ones that our body can use, shredded sweet potato.

I have to point out that I use home grown bell peppers and minced pork meat from our home grown pigs. Growing your own vegetables as well as breeding your own animals or buying both of these locally from small farms is one of the most important things you can do to enhance the health of your family as well as the health of the society.

As you can notice from the picture fat is welcome in our family meals and the fat in this meal is from olive oil and the very meat that has been cooking and is really indispensable.

INGREDIENTS: 

• 12 medium to large bell peppers
• 1/2 kg minced pork
• 1 small shredded sweet potato
• 1 egg
• 2 dcl tomato puree
• 2 dcl chicken stock or water
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• turmeric

INSTRUCTIONS:

• In a large bowl combine together minced meat with the shredded sweet potato, one egg, salt, pepper and turmeric. Knead this well.
• Wash the bell peppers and remove the seeds. 
• In a large skillet: put the olive oil and add the minced garlic let simmer for couple of minutes and then add the tomato puree, salt and stock/water.
• Stuff the peppers with the meat mixture and gently put into the sauce in the skillet.
• Let simmer for 40-45 minutes.

Extra moist and fudgy sweet potato brownie

So the season has taken off. The season of the sweet potato. We LOVE it. And this year we decided to grow it ourselves. And this was made with the very first sweet potato we dug up. The recipe gave something more than just a moist brownie. The result was an extremely moist brownie that tastes like slightly baked chocolate pudding. I made it yesterday and it's gone.

I again used chocolate and I'm sticking to the one with the three ingredients (Alnatura). When I make it again I will try to use cocoa and honey plus dates mixture to replace the chocolate and make it totally paleo without any added sugar.

This time I peeled the sweet potato, diced it and cooked it in water shortly because it was a very large potato, but next time I plan to roast it whole to amplify it's sweetness even more.


INGREDIENTS:

• 150 gr dark chocolate (Alnatura)
• 1 large sweet potato (cca 1kg)
•  1/4 cup honey
•  3 eggs
•  1 tbsp vanilla
•  1/4 cup coconut flour
•  1 tbsp coconut oil
•  1 tsp baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Melt the chocolate with the coconut oil. I use a steel or glass bowl over a pot of boiling water.
• Cook the sweet potatoes (peeled, diced) until soft and then puree them in a blender until smooth.
• Add in the chocolate, honey, eggs, coconut flour and baking powder and blend until the mixture is smooth.
• Bake in a dish covered with baking paper for 50-60 minutes at 180-220 C.
• Let cool a bit, take out of the dish, remove the baking paper, slice and ENJOY!

About the meat

The paleo lifestyle is wrongly considered to be all meat and noting else. This is not true. It is a lifestyle that includes a lot of protein and fat as a main energy sources, meaning that you want your body to burn fat and forget about all the sugar you used to give it. So in our daily food routine we consume a lot of protein. For lunch and dinner there is some kind of meat on our plate. The reason I haven't shared any recipes jet is because I like to keep it simple.

A good piece of meat does not require a lot of tampering with. We have our home grown pigs and chickens and river fish is easy to buy at the local store because it is locally available in Zagorje.

So concerning the meat on our plate:

• Steak -  I don't like adding a lot of additional flavors. Either I just season it with salt or let it marinade a bit in a mixture of olive oil, salt, garlic and balsamic vinegar. And roast it on a skillet.
• Roast - So it's the same thing just in a big chunk. I season it with salt and put in the oven.
• Chicken -  the possibilities are endless with good home grown chicken but what is fastest and easiest is roasting it in the oven. Again just salt and 2 big onions chopped into chunks and some water. If grilling in a skillet I use a marinade of salt, balsamic vinegar and honey and this too works quite well.
• Ground meat - this will come up in the recipes time to time because I usually combine it with vegetables in some kind of hash.
• Fish - simply roast it in the oven. Season it with salt, garlic and drizzle with olive oil.

I will be putting some of the recipes on the blog, but with meat SIMPLER is better.

What I would strongly recommend is NOT using any condiments with taste enhancers and everything else is prone to experimenting. If you don't like the taste of meat you can season it well with pepper and red paprika maybe.

Either way you make it try to buy local grown and avoid the supermarkets. The meat there is not really meat at all and in this area we live in local grown is neither hard to find neither expensive.

One last remark about the fat in and around the meat, if the meat is from a known source be sure to eat it and not waste it. This kind of fat is good for you and will definitely NOT be bad for your cholesterol.
If you have store bought meat be sure to remove all the fat from it and not consume it, because in the fat all the pesticides, toxins and hormones they fed are dissolved.

Home made hazelnut-chocolate spread aka Nutella

For a long time I was trying to find something nutella like but without dairy for my son who has a cow milk/soy allergy. And as much as we tried there wasn't anything like that on the market until couple of weeks ago when I did find one in DM from Alnatura. and it is delicious, very dark chocolate, not to many side-ingredients. But still not Nutella like because no hazelnuts.

So when I stumbled upon a paleolized Nutella recipe I had to try it. The recipe is very simple and I adapted it to a point. I made it once so far and seeing/keeping/tasting this I decided to make some additional changes next time I make it, and there will definitely be a next time because it is GREAT!

But I didn't want to wait to share this recipe because I know the demand for something Nutella like spread jet healthier is HUGE.

Let talk about the chocolate you decide to use. This is up to you. As far as I know there aren't any paleo chocolate brands available in Croatia jet (without regular cane sugar). But this is not such a big deal. You can just use cooking chocolate that has a minimum of ingredients. The one from Alnatura is nice, it contains only 3 ingredients, unrefined  cane sugar, cocoa and cocoa butter.

The original recipe asked for almond milk to be used, this I replaced with water. Commercially available almond milk is everything but almonds as are other pseudo milks also. There are better ones, like some rice milks and oat ones, that do not contain any added sugar so you are welcome to use one of those, just read the label and if it is simple: rice/oat+salt+water+not hydrogenated oil it's OK.

What will I be changing next time and you can change right away if you want is that I will replace the coconut oil+water with coconut milk. This will make it more creamier even straight from the fridge. How much, this I will add as a comment to this post when I try it out.

This is spreadable on room temperature but hard when in a fridge, just like real Nutella.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup hazelnuts (soaked for minimum of 4 hours but recommended overnight)
• 1 cup chopped chocolate
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/3 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Melt chocolate.
• In a blender add the soaked hazelnuts, melted chocolate and oil and blend for about 5 minutes.
• Add in the water and blend more. Blend until the consistency is smooth.
• ENJOY!

Zucchini spaghetti in a wok

This is an easy side dish to make. It's healthy, quick and goes best with plain pork steak. This version is made with zucchini, onions and carrots but you can add other vegetables you have available like bell peppers, tomatoes (having in mind that they will add plenty of sourness, so not too much), kale, etc.

It can be made in ANY kind of pan but I would generally recommended owning at least one wok pan because they pay off. Any kind of vegetables or/and meat can be fried in them faster. The taste is different because it is preparation of food somewhere between frying and cooking and you can shift this balance with adding more oil to frying, or more water to cooking. The price is important to a point because of durability. The more expensive ones will have a better none stick surface that will be harder to wear and tear. I own one that was fairly expensive and a cheaper one (so far both are holding up in spite of daily use).



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large zucchini ( shredded like spaghetti with common kitchen shredder)
• 3 large carrots (shredded with common kitchen shredder)
• 1 large onion (cut into stripes)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp turmeric

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Shred zucchini and carrots into stripes.
• Put some salt on the zucchini and let sit for about 20 minutes so that some of the excess water will  drain off.
• Heat a wok pan and add in the olive oil and onions.
• Add in the carrots, stir for 10 minutes then add in the zucchini and let stir covered for 15 minutes.
• Add turmeric, salt to taste and pepper and let stir for additional 10 minutes.

A twist of kale on a plain old mashed potato

The potato!
Hm...potatoes were out of paleo and the Whole 30 program until recently when they decided to give them a pass. I included them in our diet even before that for one reason. I have trouble with weight gain and when on a healthy diet and lifestyle I will loose weight and that is something I don't like or need. So on a paleo lifestyle I need to find good carbohydrates to add to my diet. And there are plenty out there, like sweet potatoes. But they are not available all year round and our home grown plain old potato is. The pros of the potato for me are greater than the cons (potato plus/minus sides). In my searching to make this ingredient more exiting and tasty for my family I stumbled upon an old irish recipe for potato and kale mash and adapted it to the ingredients I had. The outcome was so good that even my husband who is not a mashed potato fan loves it!

What you maybe have noticed so far is that I use a lot of turmeric. I just about put it into everything I make. It's because of it's numerous benefits. And the thing to remember is that black pepper and fat (preferably olive oil) augment the absorption or curcumin in turmeric so try to combine when ever possible.

Also a note on the mashed potatoes. I discovered that when you use a handheld blender and add to the cooked potatoes spoon of lard you get a totally different consistency that the usual mashed potatoes. They turn into a very tasteful but more sticky blend.

INGREDIENTS:

•  1 kg potatoes (any kind as long as you grow it or buy it locally!)
•  1 kale (medium size)
•  1 big onion
•  2 large tbsp lard
•  juice from 1 lemon
•  1 dcl of chicken/vegetable stock or 2 dcl of water
•  3 garlic cloves
•  nutmeg
•  salt
•  black pepper
•  turmeric

 PREPARATION:

• Peel potatoes, dice in small cubes and cook in salted water till they turn soft.
• Heat 2 tbsp of lard in a skillet and and chopped onion. Let stir for couple of minutes and add kale. Kale should be thoroughly washed and diced (steams removed).
• Let fry for 10 minutes then add in the lemon juice and 1 dcl stock/water and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Salt to taste add in the mashed garlic cook for few more minutes and remove from heat.
• In the cooked potatoes add 1 large tbsp of lard, salt, nutmeg, pepper and turmeric and blend it (I use handheld blender).
• When serving scoop some potatoes and use kale as topping.

Coconut peach/plum pie

Deserts are not really allowed on the 30 days of  the Whole 30 program. The reason for that is that we all have a very emotional and psychological bond to sugar and sweet which needs to be broken in order to restore our healthy eating habits. So during this time you really do break free. One of the most surprising benefits for me was on my teeth. When you give them a break from sugar they give you a break from cavities and the like. So if you stay on a paleo based lifestyle afterwords there are a lot of paleo desserts out there. And there is no reason you shouldn't indulge from while to while but you have to keep in mind that even if there are no bad ingredients in these desserts they too can again enslave you to the sweet demon.

This is a pie I made in two variations and both were delicious. First time I made it was with plums and second with peaches (had them in the fridge).

You can eat it warm or cold. It will keep for days in the fridge too.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 kg of plums or peaches
• 1cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 1 package of baking powder (1 tsp)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 5 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1/3 cup coconut oil

 PREPARATION:

• Preheat oven to 180 C.
• In a pie plate stack plums/peaches in a single layer.
• Sift together the coconut flour, salt, baking powder, and spices.
• Beat the eggs and whisk into the flour mixture until completely combined. Add vanilla, the honey, and the melted coconut oil until smooth.
• Pour batter evenly over plums/peaches
• Bake for 40 minutes (use the toothpick test).

Hokaido squash soup (dairy, grain free)

There are a lot of recipes out there for squash soups and they vary in ingredients to a point. However they mostly use butternut squash. Butternut is OK but I prefer hokaido squash for soups because they are very starchy and not as sweet as butternut.

As paleo is no milk and it's products there is no finishing touch to this soups with cream or sour cream (you can add coconut cream but I believe it is not necessary).
This a thick, creamy soup rich in flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small hokaido squash (peeled, diced into cubes)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 5 cloves of garlic (peeled and whole) + 2 cloves mashed
• 1 apple (peeled, diced into cubes)
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• pepper to taste
• 2 dcl chicken stock (optional)

PREPARATION:

• Bake diced squash, onion, apple and whole garlic (salted and sprinkled with olive oil) on baking paper for 40 minutes at 200 C.
• Remove from oven and put in a pot and add chicken stock and a glass of water let come to a simmer.
• Blend (with handheld blender or whatever kind you own) until smooth, if to thick add some more water. Add the spices to taste (salt, pepper, nutmeg) and add mashed garlic. Let simmer for 5 minutes. 
• Enjoy!

Frittata

Frittata is something that saved us from eating hard boiled eggs for breakfast every morning. We get up at 5.40h and have to be ready to take off at 6.20h. That is a very limited time in which a toddler needs to be fed breakfast and the paleo grown ups need to eat one too. And what can you make in this hectic morning short period of time....the answer is: hard boiled eggs, maybe slice some veggies and splash all with homemade mayo (making of homemade mayo will be the issue of one of my future posts).

Until you discover egg frittata. O yeah. This is a true power breakfast if there ever was one. And you can make it in advance AND it can last for 2 mornings if made plentifully. You need eggs and ANY vegetable you can imagine or have in a fridge or a cooler, ANYTHING goes. I like to add squash of any kind cut in small cubes in the combination during the summer months. Squash gives it a carbohydrate kick and improves the texture. After the squash is out of the picture I use sweet potatos for the same reason, you need one small or a half off a large one per frittata. And yet all this is optional too, in the early spring months when all is out of season and out of stock I use what every vegetable I can get a hold of.

The meat! You can add some but don't have too, as eggs are protein packed. If I have some available I add tuna, ground pork, bacon or like.

At the beginning I would put a half of an avocado in every batch until I realized I was allergic to it. But would recommend adding it as it has very, very healthy fats to combat the nasty ones and a lot of other benefits (health benefits of eating avocados). 

It can be baked in a metal or glass casserole dish and I did it both ways. Glass one is easier to clean, but in a lack of one a metal will do just fine.

 

We usually serve it with some homemade mayo and a cup of black coffee.

So this is the BASIC recipe. You can't go wrong.

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 eggs
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp turmeric (optional)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (muškatni oraščić) (optional)
• vegetables (any kind: peppers, tomatoes, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli)
• 1/4 s small squash of any kind (when in season) or 1 small sweet potato sliced into cubes
• Lard/coconut oil
• Meat of any kind: 1 can of  tuna / 1 homemade sausage / 20 dkg of bacon / 20 dkg ground pork or chicken

PREPARATION:

• Mix eggs with the spices
• In a skillet fry the vegetables and the meat on 1 tbsp of lard or coconut oil for about 10 minutes and then put in a casserole dish and cover with eggs.
• If feeling special you can lightly cover this with thinly sliced bacon which will be crispy at the end.
• Bake at 170 C for 30-40 minutes.

Squash muffins/breakfast cups

One of the major challenges in a paleo life style (will be using life style and not diet because it better describes it's transforming overall benefits) is definitely starting to eat breakfast again.  With today's life pace the easiest solution is to grab a bagel/pastry (had my share of those) from the local pastry shop on the run, eat while walking/driving to work after you have already been awake for about 2 hours.
So making yourself get up and eat right away has been challenging to me in the beginning of the Whole 30 program.
And then you do get in line with that and your body needs that nourishment in the morning, but what to eat? If you clean your pantry of sugar, grain, dairy, processed meats and the like all that is left, it seems at first, are eggs. And you do eat those eggs for the first months of your paleo, cooked, poached, fried, scrambled with vegetables/bacon/tuna...etc. until you can see eggs no more!
But the thing is eggs are a beautiful ingredient you just have to get some inspiration and for that you have a million recipes online that will help you prepare your breakfast. You can even for the most times prepare it before hand and it will be a pleasure to get up in the morning knowing that breakfast awaits you.
Today's recipe is one variation of muffins that can even serve as a breakfast on the go. it has only a few ingredients and is easy to make. I have made variations of them with ground pork/canned tuna/bacon/sausage and all were extremely delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

• about 400 gr ground pork/one can of tuna/200 gr of bacon or homemade sausage
• 1 tbs salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 large spaghetti squash (we grow are own and is currently in season, you can use NAY kind of squash available)
• 4 eggs

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Bake halves of spaghetti squash in oven for 40 min (seasoned with some salt).
• In a skillet, brown the ground pork or bacon with seasoning.
• Bowl: combine spaghetti squash squashed, pork/tuna/bacon/sausage,  seasoning and eggs.
• Scoop this mixture into a greased muffin pan lined with paper cups and bake at 180C for 30 minutes or more.

Hope you'll enjoy. This was my breakfast even today (kind with canned tuna).

Zucchini fritters (popečci od tikvica)

Here we go again...with the zucchini. It's in season, and this years our garden is  giving it of  bountifully. This is a very easy recipe with just a few ingredients jet if you give it a try I guarantee you'll love it.

It will serve as a self standing breakfast (plus some vegetables) or a wonderful lunch (plus some meat).

 INGREDIENTS:

• 2 big zucchini
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• lard for frying

PREPARATION:

• Shred zucchini, lightly salt and then squezze as much as excess water of it as you can.
• Add in the 2 eggs, coconut flakes, pepper, turmeric and more salt if needed and mix well (I use my hands)
• Heat a skillet and add a Tbsp of lard
• With your hands scoop up mixture and shape into small fritters.

Enjoy!! We did!

Zuchhinni bread (coconut flour)

Bread and pastry in general are off limits in paleo diet for one main reason, GRAIN (read glycophosphate) and there is more than one reason to avoid grain (reasons to avoid grains).

To the list that is in the linked page: I would like to add  a comment to the 10. point that talks about today’s agriculture not only is it unsustainable and it depletes the environment and pollutes our habitat but the final product has nothing to do with the past notion of grain itself. 

With all its downsides grain once was still to a point nutritive, today it is toxic and full of pesticides.

So in paleo to still have an occasional bread/pastry like treat you can use nut grains (almond, hazelnut, etc.), coconut flour and arrowroot flour as well as tapioca. 

The one I like most is coconut flour, it is not expensive has a rich aroma and is not as heavy on the stomach as almond flour is.

This recipe uses zucchini (which are in season now) and garlic which we absolutely adore.

INGREDIENTS

• 6  eggs
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp.salt
• 3 cup coconut flour (from flakes, with high speed blender or coffee grinder)
• 2 Tbsp arrowroot powder (aru prah, bio&bio)
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (lightly salted and thoroughly drained) 
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

• Mix: eggs, oil, vinegar, garlic and zucchini.
• In a separate bowl, mix: coconut flour, arrowroot powder, salt, oregano and baking soda.
• Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to combine
• Pour into a greased loaf pan that has been lined with parchment paper and sprinkle the top with sea salt.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through.
• Glaze with olive oil&garlic emulsion (one big garlic clove blended with 1/3 cup olive oil).
• Allow to cool completely before serving.

First and best chicken curry ever

Curry is a blend of spices (curry powder) that I never could grow to like, it's also the name of a meal made with that same spice.
The blend has a very specific taste to it and a punch of spiciness. In addition the one that is store bought (regular store, not spice store) have some other add-in's that I generally dislike (flavor enhancers, milk proteins, etc.). Never the less it's main ingredient is turmeric (cro. kurkuma) and a few years ago I began to discover just how important that spice is (health benefits of turmeric), so I use it a lot. Among other benefits it has helped me with my stomach issues a great deal.
BUT I never made curry before a few days ago when I stumbled upon a recipe that seamed it could either be a total revelation or a flop, no middle ground. It turned out to be the best paleo dish I made so far.

INGREDIENTS:

• chicken breasts from one chicken (with skin) cut into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon of lard (plain pig homemade lard)
• 2/3 can  of coconut cream (so far cheapest found in dm)
• 2 cup diced carrots
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons turmeric (very cheap in dm, gardena, harrisa)
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/5 cup celery
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Saute chicken in a medium-sized saucepan (I use wok pan).
• When the outside of the chicken has all turned white, add in the coconut milk and 1 dcl water a mix.
• Add in the vegetables.
• Add in the ginger and turmeric powder.
• Cook on medium heat with the lid on for 50 minutes (stirring occasionally).
• 5 minutes before end add in the minced garlic and cellery and salt to taste. 

That is it! What you get is a BEAUTIFUL blend of tastes (and it does not taste coconutty at all).

Almond butter

The subject of making your own butters is a bit new to me, as the first butter I made was just a couple a weeks ago. Almond butter is important in it that it's made from a fairly cheap ingredients (almonds) compared to other butters that are either unavailable in Croatia or are extremely expensive.
All nuts that we eat should be soaked first  for reasons I'm not going to get into, but if you
are interested follow the link: soaking nuts.
I made my first batch of butter with plain unsoaked, unblanched almonds just to try it out. The recipe required almonds and 1 tbsp of coconut oil for helping almonds butterfy faster, easier and better. And it worked. I have a normal kitchen (two speed) blender and the product is shown on the picture below.

I used this butter in the previously posted brownies. After this succeeded I wanted to try a little experiment. This time I blanched the almonds. This proved to be the tidiest part of the process. They first soaked over the night and then it was party time...

After this it was again blending time, but this time I decided not to use coconut oil as a "helper" but olive oil. Olive oil is less fragrant and would hopefully give it a different accent. And it did. But it also made a huge change in the consistency. It came out much more dense. Almost the consistency of regular butter.

So this is a simple butter to make and has a lot of open space for experimenting with it. For a toddler/child/grown up with cow milk/soy allergy it can serve as a beautiful replacement for a spread which is healthier and tastier than all the margarine kinds out there (hydrogenated oils downsides).

INGREDIENTS:

250 grams ALMONDS
2 tbsp COCONUT/OLIVE OIL

The indispensable brownie (prvo pa slatko)

Here I am. Although it is not very paleoish to start with a desert, the art of making healthy sweets has really taken me over. One of the reasons why I decided to take the whole Whole 30 program on was the sweet tooth that has pested me from early youth. So...brownies (kakao kocke) are easy to make, a common desert that everybody loves. There area thousands of  paleolized versions available online and I decided to merge couple of recipes I found and then adapt them. So this is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup dark chocolate (from Lidl, cooking chocolate, Fin Carre)
• 1 cup almond butter (will post recipe soon)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (from Muller, the only brand they have, cheaper than brands available in Bio&Bio)
• 1/3 cup dates (local grocery store; pureed them with handheld blender)
• 1/4 cup muscovado sugar (available almost everywhere...but beware...invest in the Muscovado, the rest are plain refined and colored sugar)
• 1 tsp vannila ( I use pure ground vanilla from Harrisa, extracts have alcohol and tend to be chemically manufactured)
• 2 tbsp coconut flour (the stuff they sell here and call flour are flakes so the easiest way is to blend them in a high speed blender until they turn to flour)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat your oven to 180 C ( 350 F)
• Melt chocolate (on stove or in the microwave oven, both way work like a charm)
• Blend dates (add in the coconut oil it will simplify the blending)
• Wisk eggs with a mixer
• Combine all of the above ingredients together with the almond butter, sugar, chocolate and vanilla
• In a separate bowl combine coconut flour, baking powder and cinnamon and the add to the above mixture and mix it all well.
• Pour into baking dish lined with sheet of baking paper.
• Bake for 30 minutes.

This is the final product

Very moist in the inside jet with crunchy crust....

Some final remarks. Paleo and especially Whole 30 program does not allow sugar. The reason I did use sugar is that there is no acacia honey  available this year and that is what I would normally use.This is because off all of the rain that fell at the time the bees where supposed to collect the pollen and we always buy are honey from local producers. I do have chestnut honey but it is far to aromatic to use in a plain brownie recipe. I don't use maple sirup or agave sirup because they are just too expensive.

Start!

I guess everything has a start. 
For us paleo started about a year ago with whole30 program upon which I stumbled by accident looking for recipes for a toddler that has milk/soy allergy. Before venturing in the program I read the book It starts with food and all the biochemistry in there just made sense. Everything the authors wrote made sense. And after finishing the 30 days it made even more sense. It delivered everything it promised to. 
We (me and my husband) felt better, looked better and had more energy. But the biggest surprise of all was that we fell in love with food again. With cooking, experimenting, trying thousands of new recipes that made delicious food that was at the same time nourishing our overall health. So this blog is an attempt to just show how wonderful real food can be and making it fun and all that from a point of view of an organic chemist.
I collect a lot of recipes on a Pinterest board: paleo-zagorci. I try them out and adapt them to the groceries that are available in Croatia, that are cheap or that we ourselves can produce and grow. This is a start post...will be back soon, from the kitchen.