The Paleo Mama

Homegrown and Handmade

My Recipes

Paleo Mac n’ Cheese

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I have been trying to create a mac n’ cheese recipe that is Paleo-friendly for quite some time. I really don’t like to “Paleo-fy” foods much, but both my kids just go nuts over mac n’ cheese. What kid doesn’t?! Mac n’ Cheese is a rare treat in our house since we are Paleo. I don’t buy cheese and I, definitely, don’t buy noodles. However, I will confess that when I am in a hurry or when I leave my kids with the hubby for a night, I will leave a box of Annies gluten free mac n’ cheese on the counter. I know…what a terrible Paleo mama.

I looked over many dairy-free alternatives to Mac n’ Cheese, but a lot of them used ingredients that are not Paleo (rice flour, vegan butter, etc) which made it even more difficult for me to find a recipe. So, I thought I would just make my own. It’s been rough, because what is mac n’ cheese without noodles and cheese? So, don’t think it’s going to taste like your mama’s mac n’ cheese, however, I do think it tastes cheesy and a great alternativ.

And I have to admit, this is pretty darn good. It’s very versatile. You can use several different kinds of “noodle” to pour the “cheese” sauce over. I just happened to use Spaghetti Squash, but you can also use zucchini noodles, cauliflower, or that Asian sweet potato noodle (or cheat and get some brown rice pasta or quinoa pasta). This cheese sauce would also be great to make broccoli and cheese with or to use as a dip.

Jackie’s Uncheesy Sauce

(double recipe for a 9×13 dish)

4 TB of coconut oil

4 TB of Arrowroot Powder

2.5 cups of full fat coconut milk

1 heaping TB of tahini (some recipes use Almond Butter but I used Tahini)

2 heaping TB of gluten-free nutritional yeast

1/2 TS Dijon mustard

2 TB Rice Vinegar (yes, this is Paleo)

1 TS sea salt

1/2 TS garlic powder

1/2 TS onion powder

1/4 TS nutmeg

3 TB white wine

1/2 TS Paprika for the orange color

couple handfuls of almonds

Directions:

Cook your “noodles”. I used Spaghetti Squash and cooked it in the microwave for 10 minutes. Other ideas for noodles are zucchini “noodle’s” or sweet potato noodles which I buy off Amazon.

In a medium saucepan, heat the coconut oil and stir in the arrowroot. Arrowroot is a thickening agent that has no flavor to it. Whisk the arrowroot for about 20 seconds and then slowly add in the coconut milk. Make sure you whisk and blend the paste really good. This is called a roux. Bring the roux to a bubbly boil and then reduce the heat to low.

Add the tahini, nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard, rice vinegar, sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, nutmeg, and white wine. Add the paprika for color, if desired. Whisk it all together really well. Remove from heat and set aside.

Add the cooked “noodles” of your choice to a 9in square casserole pan. Pour the uncheese mixture over and lightly blend. Grab a few handfuls of almonds and pulse them in a blender (or use sliced almonds). Spread almonds over the dish and sprinkle some basil on top.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Serves 4!

Asian Lettuce Wraps with Coconut Cauli-Rice

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One thing I love doing is trying different cultural foods. Last night we had Albondigas Soup, which was outstanding…it was so delicious that I was literally licking my bowl. I didn’t take a picture of it, however, I am still going to share the recipe with you in my next post.

This post is about my lettuce wraps which were just as delicious. My husband took a bite and gave me the best look ever. It was the look of, “I’m so glad I married a woman who knows how to cook!”.  I wasn’t always so savvy in the kitchen. It took a few years to learn the ropes. Now I’m to a point where I will try to cook anything. Nothing looks too hard, well, there is Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon which I still am scared to try. Needless to say, she is a legend so we’ll leave it at that!

Ok, this recipe was sent to me from GNOWFGLINS ecourse that I took at www.gnowfglins.com so I can’t take credit for it! I did have to “Paleo-fy” it just a tiny bit, but it’s amazing and so yummy. It’s easy, but takes about 15 minutes of prepping the veggies.

Asian Lettuce Wraps with Coconut Cauli-Rice

Asian Lettuce Wraps

1/4 cup coconut aminos (this is the Paleo approved version of soy sauce)

2 TB fermented fish sauce

2TB lime juice

1TB apple cider vinegar

1 TB raw honey (optional: leave out if Whole30 or 21DSD)

1 egg

2 TB coconut oil

1 medium onion, diced small

1lb ground chicken

2 TB grated fresh ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup packed grated carrot (2-3 carrots, depending on size)

1 large red bell pepper, cut in small sticks

1/4 small head green cabbage

1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated

sea salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4

Whisk together the first 6 ingredients in a bowl, and set aside. Melt coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute for a few minutes till they are soft. Add ground chicken, break it up, and cook it till it’s no longer pink. Stir in the garlic, ginger, and carrots, and cook for 3-5 minutes till the carrots are soft. Add in cabbage and red bell pepper, and stir-fry until slightly soft but still crisp, 3-5 minutes. Pour in the sauce mixture and toss the meat and vegetables to coat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another few minutes. Taste. Add salt and pepper if necessary (taste it first because it will be a little salty already from the fish sauce). Fill the lettuce leaves with the meat mixture and top with coconut cauli-rice (recipe follows).

Coconut Cauli-Rice

1 head of Cauliflower

1/4-1/2 cup of full fat coconut milk

2-4 TB coconut oil

salt and pepper

3 TB lime juice

Take the cauliflower and cut it up into smaller pieces. Throw half at a time into a food processor and pulse it until it starts to look like the size of rice. Throw it in a bowl and processed the rest of the cauliflower. My processor only fits about half a cabbage at a time. Melt coconut oil in a large skillet. Pour in the cauliflower rice and saute’ it for about 5 minutes till it becomes soft. Pour in the coconut milk. Saute’ for another 5 minutes. Take off heat, add lime juice, salt and pepper.

If you make these wraps you HAVE to serve pineapple on the side. The flavors just go together so well! Hope you like it! Enjoy!

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Smoothie

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Had a craving for chocolate tonight and all I could find in my pantry was cacao powder (which by the way is just frickin delicious). Accepting this challenge I began to throw things in my blender and, I have to say, I have come up with an amazing, chocolate-craving busting smoothie that is so healthy!

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of coconut milk (or almond milk).
6-7 frozen strawberries (can use fresh, just add in ice cubes)
1/2 frozen banana
1.5 TB cocoa powder

Add a couple drops of liquid stevia. I used my chocolate raspberry stevia and it enhanced the chocolatiness!!

Optional add ins: free-range egg yolks, coconut oil, and ice cubes if you use fresh strawberries

Throw everything in a blender, except ice cubes, and blend till smooth. Take a peak and add in ice cubes to get it to the thickness you desire.

Enjoy!!!

Other recipes you might like:

Spirulina Smoothie

Bulletproof Coffee

2 Minute Mug Brownie

Pumpkin Pie in a Cup Smoothie

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Ground Beef Stroganoff

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This is so good, I just can’t keep it to myself anymore! I make it 2-3 times every month. It’s just so delicious and comforting. I adapted this recipe from a non-Paleo recipe I saw on here. It’s so nourishing and 100% Paleo! You can make it Primal by using sour cream instead of coconut milk cream. Hope you like it!

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Ingredients:

  • 2 TB of Butter or Ghee
  • 2 TB of extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil, divided
  • 1 lg Onion, diced
  • 8 ounces of sliced white mushrooms (slice em’ thick)
  • 1 pound of ground beef
  • 2 TB of tomato paste
  • 1.5 ts thyme
  • 1.5 ts rosemary
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 TB arrowroot powder
  • 1.5 cup beef stock (I usually use my homemade chicken stock since I make a batch every week)
  • 2/3 cup thick coconut cream (this is the cream off the top of a can of coconut milk). I recommend Native Forest  for this because it separates really good in the can.
  • 1/2 ts of sea salt
  • 1/2 ts black pepper
  • cooked Cauliflower Rice, Sliced Zucchini “noodles”, sweet potato noodle, or Spaghetti Squash

Directions:

In a skillet, melt the butter/or Ghee with 1 TB of olive/or coconut oil. Add the mushrooms and onions, and saute until slightly softened and browned around the edges. Remove to a plate.

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Brown ground beef in 1 TB of olive oil until no longer pink. Return onions and mushrooms to pan. Add tomato paste, thyme, rosemary, and garlic. Saute’ for about 3 minutes to allow the flavors to develop. Reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle arrowroot powder over meat mixture and stir to combine until arrowroot is completely mixed in. Add beef stock and stir to mix in.

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Sauce will begin to thicken as it comes to a simmer.

Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple minutes.

Stir in the thick coconut cream.

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Serve over cooked Cauliflower Rice, sliced zucchini noodles, sweet potato noodle, or roasted Spaghetti Squash with some roasted vegetables on the side!

We made it with sweet potato noodles this time which my kids LOVED!

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Pumpkin Pie in a Cup!

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pumpkin-pie-smoothie

I am a pumpkin pie kind of girl! I love it! And I don’t just love it on Thanksgiving. I love it year-round! I’ve been craving it lately since, of course, I can’t have the ooey-gooey heaven on a plate, so I decided to try to make a smoothie that tastes like the real deal.

Here’s my recipe that I created that is quite amazing!

Pumpkin Pie in a Cup

Ingredients:

DIRECTIONS: 

  • Throw everything in a blender and blend till smooth!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Good broth resurrects the dead.”

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Chicken stock simmering away in my crock pot!

Unfortunately, because of our modern meat processing techniques and our fast-food, semi-homemade society, homemade stocks and broth have become a lost art. Nourishing Traditions says (one of my favorite cookbooks ever!), “In days gone by, when the butcher sold meat on the bone rather than individual filets and whole chickens rather than boneless breasts, our thrifty ancestors made use of every part of the animal by preparing stock, broth or bouillon from the bony portions.”

When properly prepared, meat and bone stocks are extremely nutritious, containing minerals of bone, cartilage, marrow and vegetables as electrolytes. I’ve also learned that adding an acidic medium, like Bragg’s raw Apple Cider Vinegar, makes the stock even more nutritious by helping to draw out even more minerals (i.e. calcium, magnesium, and potassium).

There is magic in homemade stock that cannot be replicated with chicken or beef flavored water sold in stores. Another advantage of making homemade stock is that it’s just so dang easy. My method for making stock has become second nature.

How I Make Stock:

  1. I always plan on eating a whole chicken a week. I rinse the chicken, put the organs in the fridge for the stock, throw the chicken in the crock pot (breast-side down), add 2-4 cups of water (depending on the size of the bird), and then cook the chicken on low for 6-8 hours. I know when it’s done when the legs easily fall off.
  2. I then let the chicken cool. Once cooled I take all the meat off and throw the skin, bones, and organs back into the crock pot.
  3. I cut an onion in fourths and throw it in along with , 2 whole garlic cloves, about an inch long piece of ginger, one celery stalk, one carrot, half a cup of apple cider vinegar, and a chicken foot (for added gelatin) if I have them.
  4. I then fill the rest of the crock pot up with water. I set it to low and I let it simmer for 24-48 hours.
  5. About an hour before I am ready to turn the crock pot off, I add my spices. I put in salt, pepper, and sage.
  6. I let it simmer for one more hour, let it cool, then strain the stock.

The outcome is amazing! It’s so dark and beautiful! Yes, I get excited about it! I usually plan on making some kind of a soup every week. Sometimes I freeze the stock. You can also boil the stock down and put it in ice-cube trays. It’s so easy and so frugal to make stock. When I see bones, I think of all the wonderful stocks I can make with them.

I also use my stock when I’m making baby food for my little 6 month old man. I add the stock to the vegetable purees to get them to the right consistency. I do this in my blender after I steam the veggies. Then I pour the mixture in ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen I label a ziploc and dump the frozen cubes in the baggie! When mealtime comes around, I grab a few cubes and nuke them. My son LOVES his food like this! It’s a great way to add nutrition, protein, and important minerals to a baby’s diet!

I think we need to take note of how our ancestors appreciated every bit of an animal. Not only is it highly nutritious, but it’s also extremely frugal!

Now check out the color of that stock! All from 1 chicken…you can’t find that in a box or can!