Paleo Butternut Squash Soup

Making soup is surprisingly simple. When you make it yourself, you ensure that all the ingredients are healthy without tons of salt, sugar and ingredients that you can't pronounce. I normally make a large batch of soup so that I have it for a few meals for the rest of the week, which helps cut down on my cooking time. 

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, peeled and seeded

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cups chicken stock

Nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut the squash into 1-inch chunks. In large pot, add the coconut oil. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the squash and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender, or about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove squash chunks with slotted spoon and place in a blender and pure. Return blended squash to pot. OR you can use a stick blender (here's mine) to mix the ingredients - it is much neater if you have a stick blender. Simmer until the soup reaches your desired thickness. Stir and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Serve and enjoy!

Paleo Spicy Pumpkin Muffins

These muffins are tasty, healthy treats to eat anytime you're getting hungry or having a craving. They have a pinch of cayenne for a tiny bit of spiciness.  I always keep muffins in the refrigerator so I have a great snack or an easy, take-it-to-go breakfast. These are really low in carbs and sugar. My recent health kick/dieting has involved watching carbs and sugar carefully (following some combination of Paleo/ Low Glycemic diets) so these are great for me!

There are only 180 calories with 8 net grams of carbs*, 5 grams of sugar, 5 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein and 130% of your vitamin A for the day. Just for comparisons sake, another healthy breakfast food, Fage 0% Yogurt Strawberry has 17 grams of carbohydrates and 16 grams of sugar, or 11 more grams of sugar than each of these muffins. See - a perfect breakfast!

Ingredients:

1. 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
2. 1 cup coconut flour
3. 1/2 cup coconut oil
4. 6 eggs
5. 1 tsp vanilla extract
6. 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
7. 1 tsp nutmeg
8. 1/4 tsp cayenne
9. 1/4 tsp baking powder
10. 3 tbsp honey
11. 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Makes 12 muffins.

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
3. In another bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.
4. Add the wet ingredients slowly and mix well. The batter ends up having a fairly thick consistency, much thicker than regular muffin batters.
5. Line the muffin tins with paper liners.
6. Scoop the batter into the liners.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until the tops of the muffins are lightly brown and a fork comes out clean.
8. Let cool and enjoy :)

*Net carbs = Total carbohydrate - fiber content

Kale Chicken Caesar Salad

First, homemade caesar dressing tastes so much better than anything you can buy in a store and is not too hard to make. It also isn't as bad for you as people make out (the only "unhealthy" ingredient really is the parmesan).

Dressing Ingredients:

1. 2 garlic cloves peeled
2. 1/2 tsp salt
3. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4. 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
5. 1 egg
6. 3-4 anchovies (mashed to a paste)
7. 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8. 1/4 cup parmesan

Crouton Ingredients:

1. A few springs of fresh Rosemary
2. Garlic powder
3. Onion Powder
4. Sea Salt
5. Baguette

Other ingredients:

1. 1/2 head of kale
2. 1 Chicken breast
3. Olive oil for sautéing


Mash together the garlic and salt until nearly a paste. Similarly, mash the anchovies. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend.

Cut up a baguette into small pieces and place in a bowl. Take the leaves off a few springs of Rosemary and add to the bowl. Sprinkle with salt, onion powder and garlic powder and toss. Bake until lightly browned at 350 degrees and let cool.

Cut your chicken into strips and sauté in a cooking pan with touch of Olive oil until cooked through.

Prepare the kale (about half a head for a large dinner for two) by washing and ripping the greens off the stems. Chop the resulting kale.

Toss the dressing and the kale. Sprinkle with sea salt, grated parmesan and pepper.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you liked the placemats, they're only $9.95 for two at Williams-Sonoma.

Paleo Lemon Bars! Amazing Crust!

Ingredients for the crust:

1. 2 cups almond flour
2. 1/4 cup honey
3. 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
4. 2 eggs

Ingredients for the topping:

1. 6 eggs
2. 1 cup fresh lemon juice
3. 1/2 cup honey
4. 1/2 cup coconut oil
5.  Dash of salt




Directions for the crust:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the honey, eggs and coconut oil. After whisking together, add the almond flour and mix.
3. Line a 10x10 pan with parchment paper and press ingredients down evenly.
4. Bake for 15 minutes until edges are lightly brown.
5. Set aside to cool.

Directions for topping:

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together eggs, juice, honey and salt. Slowly stir in the coconut oil.
2. Whisk while on low to medium heat for about 4-6 minutes until the mixture begins to thicken. It should have the consistency of pudding.
3. Let cool.
4. Once cool, pour over to top of the crust and put in freezer to set. Move to the refrigerator after it has set.

This recipe makes about 16 bars depending on how you cut them. 

Paleo Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

Juice of 2 lemons

Zest of 2 lemons

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 tbsp poppy seeds

6 eggs

Makes 10 muffins.

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl. 

3. Mix wet ingredients.

4. Mix together slowly. 

5. Bake for 20 minutes. 

I like my muffins bigger so I only fill 10 paper liners in a muffin pan. Add more honey if you like a sweeter muffin :)

I also just tried making these with Stevia and they turned out just as yummy! I used 8 packets of Stevia instead of the honey and they were great. The lemon wiped out the bitter taste that Stevia sometimes has and instead they just tasted sweet. But if you aren't into Stevia, you can stick with the honey.