The Paleo Mama

Homegrown and Handmade

gluten-free

Zucchini Brownies

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A friend of mine recommended me to try these Zucchini Brownies. I thought, “Hmm, that sounds weird, but I do love zucchini.” Then I looked at the recipe and was shocked to see that there is no flour! What the heck??? However there is 1 cup of dark chocolate, so I was IN! It was one of those nights where I was craving something, but I didn’t know what, so I made several things to try to satiate my odd craving.

In walks Zucchini Brownies…craving satisfied.

Here’s the recipe; this is from Fast Paleo’s website.

Ingredients

 

To see the instructions on how to make this recipe, click here!

This recipe is gold! We loved it. It’s pretty rich, so it’s a great treat and it’s loaded with protein too. Next time I won’t use 1/3 cup honey because the chocolate chips and peanut butter sweeten it pretty well. This is definitely a keeper! My 3 year old asked for seconds and I didn’t have to say no to her because they are so healthy!

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!

Sunbutter Bread!!! Oh my!

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Very moist and very tasty!

Oh I was skeptical, but the Sunbutter Bread came out delicious! I used this Melissa’s recipe over at Satisfying Eats  but substituted sunbutter for peanut/almond butter. I knew that I had enough Sunbutter to waste if I didn’t like it, but to my surprise, it was delicious! It has a more spongy texture than whole wheat bread. Kind of tastes like white Wonder Bread but with a nutty taste! I think this is a perfect addition to our Paleo lifestyle and I, also, think this is great for people who have nut allergies! Sunbutter is a great substitute for people with allergies since it is made from sunflower seeds and finding a bread is hard.

I plan on having it tonight with our Tom Kha Gai soup! It’s also nice to have some bread on hand to send with my Paleo toddler for lunches at school. She told me this morning that all her friends have sandwiches and she doesn’t want another “roll-up”, she wants a real sandwich! Ha! She will be very happy with this!

Here is the recipe I used from Satisfying Eats with substitutions…

Sunbutter Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup Sunbutter
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

*2 servings Stevia ( I used 2 packets of powdered Sweetleaf stevia)

Directions:

  1. Blend all ingredients in large bowl until smooth, about 1 minute.
  2. Pour into a loaf pan lined with foil for easy removal.  I used a 8.5X 4.5.  This makes the bread rise a little higher.
  3. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (Times will vary based on different ovens.  Just don’t over bake or it will be dry).
  4. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on cooling rack. (I couldn’t wait!)

***the next morning this bread had turned GREEN! It was the coolest thing ever and wondered if I could eat it. The answer is, YES! All plants contain chlorogenic acid, mostly in the stems and leaves, but sunflowers also have it in the seeds. When the chlorogenic acid is heated, it turns the seeds green! This is a great bread to make with kids when they are learning about plants…or for St. Patrick’s Day!***