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Well Fed Cookbook Giveaway (CLOSED) & Jicama Home Fries Recipe!!!

February 5, 2013 by Jackie Ritz

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I don’t know if I’m more excited about the fact that the author, Melissa Joulwan, has offered to give this amazing cookbook away to one of you, or the fact that I get to share my favorite Paleo recipes with you! Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat is AWESOME! This is, by far, one of my favorite Paleo cookbooks!

Not only is it Paleo, but this cookbook is features tons of recipes that are Whole30 & 21 Day Sugar Detox approved! It is loaded with so many recipes and has opened up my tastebuds to a whole new world!

Some of my favorites (and I have pretty much made EVERYTHING from this cookbook) are Chocolate Chili, Meatza Pie, and her Meat and Spinach Muffins. Seriously, I could go on and on! However, my absolute favorite recipe that has rocked my Paleo world is the Jicama Home Fries!

Jicama Home Fries:

(posted with permission by Melissa Joulwan)

Photo by David Humphreys
Photo by David Humphreys

Diner home fries don’t discriminate. Their brown, crisp outside and warm tender interior are equally comfortable alongside eggs for an early morning (or midnight) breakfast and next to a beef burger. Seasoned with plenty of salt and just a whisper of paprika, these home fries transform jicama, the “Mexican potato,” into an all-American classic.

NOTE: This recipe requires you to pre-soak the jicama for 12-24 hours, so you’ll need to start the process the day before you want to eat.

SOAK 12-24 hours

PREP 5 minutes

COOK 20 minutes

SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

The jicama:

1 pounds jicama

1/2 teaspoon salt

The home fries: 1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)

1/2 tablespoon plus 2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, minced (about 1 tablespoon)

DIRECTIONS The jicama: Cut the jicama into 1/2-inch dice. Whether or not to peel it is up to you; I usually peel half and leave the skin on half to better impersonate a potato. When you’re done chopping, you should have about 3 cups of cubes. Place the jicama and salt in a slow cooker and add enough water to cover the jicama by about 2 inches. Cover and cook on high for 12-24 hours. The longer it simmers, the more tender it becomes.

When the jicama has finished its soak, drain, pat dry, and place in the refrigerator until you’re ready to start frying.

The home fries: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes. Add coconut oil and allow it to melt. Toss the onion in the pan and sauté, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Cook until nicely browned, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer the onion to a small bowl and return the pan to the heat.

Add 2 tablespoons coconut oil to the skillet and allow the pan to get hot, about 2 minutes. Add the jicama cubes, shaking the skillet to make an even, single layer. Cook the jicama without stirring until the cubes are golden brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes, then carefully flip the jicama with a large spatula and make another single layer. Repeat this process until the jicama is browned on most sides, about 15 minutes.

When the jicama is appropriately toasty in color, add the onions, paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper to the pan. Stir to blend and heat through. Remove the home fries from the heat, stir in the parsley, and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

 

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: dairy free, giveaway, gluten-free, grain-free, healthy home fries, home fries, jicama, paleo, primal, well fed, whole30

Paleo Birthday Cupcakes

January 31, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 46 Comments

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My 3 year old is turning 4 and requested cupcakes to share with some friends. Awww, how sweet, right?!?!!! NOT!!!!!!!!!! This Paleo mama sucks at Paleo baked goods. So, I’m smiling at my adorable, little princess and thinking, “CRAP…how in the world am I going to make cupcakes?” Aha! I have almond flour and I’m pretty good with it.

Wait, does no peanuts mean no almonds? Because, if we get technical, a peanut is a legume so if you are allergic to peanuts then you probably aren’t allergic to almonds…right? I wonder…and wonder…and reach out to my Facebook fans for help.

The winning verdict: use coconut flour and don’t play with almond fire! Which by the way is so contradictory.  So, let me get this right: you can’t bring nuts to school because someone in the class is allergic to it, but you can bring gluten-laden garbage? Not fair!

Anyways, I went with a vanilla cupcake, a chocolate ganache frosting, and pink sprinkles! The only thing not Paleo was the pink sprinkles! I think I did pretty darn good! And….her little friends gobbled it up!!!

Here’s the recipes that I used…

Very Vanilla Cupcakes (using coconut flour):

Cupcake Ingredients (makes 8 cupcakes):

  • 1/2 cup of coconut flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/3 cup of coconut oil or butter (your choice)
  • 1/2 cup of honey (or maple syrup)
  • 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
  • seeds from a vanilla bean (optional)

(click here to view the recipe)

My opinion: I was SHOCKED how moist and delicious these cupcakes are. I was debating about using another recipe that didn’t have any oil but I remember how coconut oil just sucks up moisture and I wanted to make sure the cupcakes were moist. This recipe is a KEEPER!

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Chocolate Ganache Frosting

This ganache is delicious and you can sub coconut milk for the heavy cream. I did that the last time I made it. And the author of this recipe now has a AWESOME cookbook available with TONS of recipes!

Ganache Recipe:

  •  1.5 cups of chocolate chips
  • 1 cup Heavy Cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla

(click here to be taken to the recipe)

…and all this I did for my little princess ON MY BIRTHDAY! Yes, today is my birthday. However, I do get to pick out where we are going to eat for lunch. I say Vinne Van Go Go’s Pizza and some beer (***runs and hides***)!!!

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Filed Under: My Recipes Tagged With: coconut flour muffins, cupcake, dairy free, ganache, gluten-free, grain free cupcakes, paleo, primal, recipe, vanilla, vanilla cupcake

My Top 10 Paleo Necessities

January 29, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 3 Comments

When I first started eating Paleo, I spent A TON of money! Let’s face it, it costs a bit of pocket change to get a Paleo pantry stocked…especially when you are not used to cooking whole, unprocessed foods. In walks Amazon.com…my lifesaver and money saver.

If you haven’t started shopping on Amazon, then you need to. They have some ridiculous deals and shipping is always so fast. When we started Paleo, we signed up for Amazon Prime, which is an annual fee of $79. Wait, wait, don’t get scared away. This includes free 2-day shipping for the WHOLE year, accessibility to Prime Instant Videos which has lots of TV shows and movies to choose from, and the Kindle Lending Library with thousands of books to choose from!

They also have Amazon Mom which gives you 20% off diapers and wipes and, also, 2-day shipping on Prime items. Amazon Mom also has a free trial you can do to test out the waters and see how you like it. You don’t have to be a mom to do it either!

Amazon Student is another great deal! You get a free 6-month Prime trial if you have a valid student email address.

All this to say, I love Amazon! And if you are eating Paleo, some of the items that you find you might need, are so expensive in the grocery store. You can find them on Amazon for a fraction of the cost. Here are some of my favorites…

1) Coconut Oil

You will use coconut oil a lot! Coconut oil replaces all other vegetable oils you may have used before going Paleo. Coconut oil can cook at a higher temperature than any other oil, so it’s a good choice to have! The benefits of coconut oil are mainly from the nutrient value of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). The best comparison in nature as to the percentage of MCFAs being consumed in a diet is human breast milk!

2) Coconut Chips

These are delicious! You can snack on them raw, throw them in baked, Paleo goods or make caramelized coconut chips!

Recipes I love: Caramelized Coconut Chips, Paleo Breakfast Cookies, and Morning Glory Muffins

3) Coconut Milk

It’s really, REALLY hard to find coconut milk that doesn’t have any added ingredients, however Natural Value coconut milk only has water and coconut! It’s a great deal off Amazon because in the stores it’s nearly $4 a can! On Amazon you can get 12 cans for $30!

Recipes I love: Ground Beef Stroganoff, Pumpkin Pie in a Cup, and Whipped Coconut Cream

4) Olive Oil

Zoe olive oil is my absolute favorite olive oil. The taste and flavor of it is amazing. It’s great to have both coconut and olive oil on hand in a Paleo kitchen. Coconut oil withstands hotter temperatures better than olive oil, but olive oil is great for marinades, homemade mayonnaise, and salad dressings.

Recipes I love: Homemade Mayo and Marinated Balsamic Chicken

5) Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia

Stevia saved my life when I was giving up the flavored creamers to put in my coffee. My favorite kind is the English Toffee from Sweetleaf. Stevia comes from a plant and is 100% natural. Beware: lots of the store-bought stevia brands are not 100% stevia. Sweetleaf and Kal are reputable brands that are 100% stevia.

6) Almond Butter

Peanut Butter is a no-no if going Paleo because, guess what, peanuts are a legume, not a nut! Crazy, eh? I was surprised too. We really like Barney Butter Smooth Almond Butter , however it does have some evaporated cane juice in it. If you are looking for something with JUST almonds then Maranatha Natural Almond Butter is awesome…just a little on the expensive side.

Recipes I love: The Easiest Bread Ever, Zucchini Brownies, and Paleo Breakfast Cookies

7) Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

We love these chocolate chips by Enjoy Life. They are the only ones I have found that are gluten, dairy, nut, and SOY free! They are so good and we use them in lots of recipes. The kids love them too and I feel good about letting them snack on them. They are around $3.50 each on Amazon which is an AWESOME deal. In the stores they are around $6 each…yikes!

Recipes I love: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chunky Monkey Muffins, and Zucchini Brownies

8) Coconut Sugar

Coconut sugar is a great substitution for regular sugar, and even, brown sugar. It comes from coconut tree sap and is one of the lowest glycemic index sweeteners on the market. I have made caramelized onions using coconut sugar and they come out delish!

Recipes I love: 2-Minute Paleo Mug Brownie, Caramelized Onions, and Whipped Coconut Cream

9) Fruit Leather

If you follow my Pinterest page, I post pictures of my daughter’s lunches to help give my followers some ideas for sending whole, unprocessed lunches. You might see fruit leather mentioned in there from time-to-time. They are so good and are 100% fruit. I get these for super cheap off Amazon and my kids, even I, love them! They love it when I cookie-cut them into cute little shapes and hearts.

10) Almond Flour

Almond flour is my favorite alternative to white flour. I LOVE it! You can do so much with it and it Honeyville’s Blanched Almond Flour is very light and fluffy.

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These are 10 staples in our house. A lot of the items have a “subscribe & save” option on Amazon, which makes the cost come down even more.

And once you gather all your kitchen pantry essentials, here is a list of my favorite Paleo cookbooks to get you on your way:

1)Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat

2)Make it Paleo: Over 200 Grain Free Recipes For Any Occasion

3) Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen

 

Filed Under: Paleo Education, Starting Paleo Tagged With: amazon, coconut milk, coconut oi, dairy free, gluten-free, paleo, paleo necessities, primal, recipes

Two-Minute Paleo Mug Brownie

January 18, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 40 Comments

 

I found this recipe online today and it looked sooooooo good. I wanted it soooo bad so I thought I would attempt to make a Paleo-version. The first I tried to make it, it tasted good but it was kinda oily and runny. This may have been because I didn’t use white flour…I used almond flour which has natural oils and doesn’t soak up liquid like white flour. I don’t know. Whatever the case may be, I tried again. This time, I used an egg, which the author was trying to avoid, but it came out great and hit the choco-G-spot.

Also, since I am learning how to take food pictures with my new camera, I used some of the author’s staging ideas for this recipe!

Two-Minute Mug Brownie

1/4 cup Almond Flour

1/8-1/4 cup Coconut Sugar

2 TB unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

2 TB of beaten egg

2 TB of coconut milk, coffee, or water

Directions:

Stir together your almond flour, coconut sugar, cocoa and a pinch of salt in a ramekin.

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Stir in the egg and milk or coffee.

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Stir it all together until you have a thick, chocolatey paste.

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Microwave it for a minute. If you have a really powerful microwave you may want to check after 30 seconds. It’s done when it is puffed up and springy to the touch…but you still want it a little gooey – like a good brownie should be!

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This makes one ramekin. You can eat it all yourself or you can share it! I was nice and shared it….this time!

***Don’t have coconut sugar???

Use 2 TB of honey or maple syrup and ONLY 1 TB of milk/coffee!!! ***

 

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Filed Under: My Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: 2 minute brownie, dairy free, gluten-free, sugar free brownie

Spanish Burgers with Caramelized Onion & Chile Relish and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

January 15, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 6 Comments

Whew, it is a mouthful, but so is this incredible, juicy, decadent burger. This is the burger to impress. Wanna shock the socks off your non-Paleo, skeptical friends? Make this immediately!!!

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Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
1/2 cup of thickened coconut milk (the thick part of an unshaken can of coconut milk) or homemade mayo
12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers or roast 3 red peppers beforehand
1 ts. salt
1/2 ts. pepper

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Scoop the thickened coconut milk or the homemade mayo into a blender. Add drained roasted red peppers, salt, and pepper. Process till smooth. Set aside in refrigerator for 30 min. to a few days so flavors can deepen.

Caramelized Onion Chile Relish
2 TB of olive oil
2 large sweet onions, finely diced
16oz of roasted/seeded green chiles
1/2 cup of coconut sugar>

salt and pepper to taste

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Eat 2 TB of olive oil in a pan over low/medium heat. Add the diced onions, salt and pepper. Add green chiles and coconut sugar. Slowly cook for around 15-20 minutes until the onions are soft and are a deep, caramelized color. Set aside.

Burgers
1 1/2lbs of ground beef
1/2lb of chorizo
1 TB of homemade taco seasoning
1 medium onion, finely diced
Portobello caps (optional for “bun”)
optional toppings: tomato, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, homemade mayo, avocado or guacamole, fried egg, pickles and cheese (if you do dairy)

Add all the ingredients to a big bowl. Get in there with your hands and mix everything up. Form into 5-6 patties. We  like to set the raw patties in the fridge to harden up for about 30 minutes before throwing on the grill. Place the burgers on a hot grill and cook to your desired doneness. However, since you are using chorizo, I recommend you cooking them to medium-well (8 minutes per side). If you are grilling the Portobello caps, throw them on and cook about 3-5 minutes per side.

Assemble
Top the burger with caramelized onion relish, roasted red pepper sauce, and another toppings you would like! Put between Portobello caps or 2 big lettuce leaves! ENJOY and feel free to lick the plate!

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Other recipes you might like:

Ground Beef Stroganoff

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Chile Pork Tacos

 

Filed Under: My Recipes Tagged With: burgers, dairy free, gluten free burger, paleo, paleo ground meat recipe, roasted red pepper, spanish burgers

Pumpkin Pie in a Cup!

February 23, 2012 by Jackie Ritz 10 Comments

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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:

  • Half can of pumpkin or 1/2 cup of puree pumpkin
  • About 6 oz of unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 6-7 ice cubes
  • 6-12 drops of liquid stevia (or you can use honey, maple syrup, or none)

DIRECTIONS: 

  • Throw everything in a blender and blend till smooth!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: My Recipes Tagged With: autumn recipes, dairy free, gluten free pumpkin pie, pumpkin, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie smoothie, smoothie, squash, vegan

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Hi, I'm Jackie Ritz and welcome to The Paleo Mama! I'm a published author, certified herbalist, and voracious researcher of natural medicine and nutrition. I'm glad you're here and I hope you stick around for awhile!

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