The Paleo Mama

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Fig & Orange Drops

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Good morning everyone! I’m so excited to have Suzanne from Strands of My Life sharing a delicious recipe from her cookbook, Paleo Treats! Paleo Treats came about as part of her research in finding the root of her lifelong digestive issues. Paleo Treats is a cookbook of healthy, grain-free recipes that will satisfy that need for something sweet without eating any sugar. Every recipe in her cookbook is grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, and NUT-FREE! I know this is important for so many of you who need to stay away from nuts.

You can order her cookbook HERE…or get it ridiculously cheap as part of the Fall into Health Sale!  Check out some of her cooking creations below…drool!!!

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Recipes from Paleo Treats

Paleo Treats is just ONE of the many cookbooks included in the Fall into Health Autumn sale. The sale includes 47 e-books (Paleo cookbooks and health/wellness books), 3 online classes (one is a Paleo cooking class), 2 meal plans (both are Paleo), and so much more. CLICK HERE to see what it all entails and check out all the delicious cookbooks!

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And now please welcome my friend Suzanne from Stands of My Life as she, graciously, shares a beautiful recipe from Paleo Treats! 

Thank you so much, Jackie, for having me on your lovely blog. These are the simplest of cookies to put together as long as you have some date puree stored away in your fridge. Otherwise you will need a food processor to grind the dates up until they form a mush. I soak my dates in boiling water for an hour first and this makes it easier to puree.  These are healthy little drops of heaven for when you need that sweet hit.

Orange Fig Drops from Paleo Treats: 

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Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Makes 30 drops

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 2-3 tbsp date puree (depends how sweet you want your cookies)- Read instructions above for making the puree.
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • Grated rind of 1 orange
  • 7 figs, chopped up

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
  2. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, oil, banana and date puree in a food processor.
  3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix.
  4. Remove the mixture from the food processor to a bowl and add the rind and figs.
  5. Place a sheet of baking paper on an oven tray.
  6. Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto the paper, making sure they are rounded and not messy.
  7. Bake about 10 minutes until they are golden but still soft.
  8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for half an hour so they firm up.

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For more delicious recipes from Suzanne, please make sure you follow her on her social media sites!

Giveaway: KitchenAid Mixer – $399 value!

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I really, really love doing giveaways! I feel it’s my way of giving back to The Paleo Mama community…cause I know I wouldn’t be doing this, blogging and sharing great Paleo content, if it wasn’t for all of you! Click here to take a look at some of the past giveaways I’ve done. This month, I’m joining with some other real foodie bloggers and offering a KitchenAid Mixer!

KitchenAid Mixer – $399 Value!

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This giveaway is just in time for the holidays coming up. Even us Paleo eaters can use this mixer! I, personally, love mine for whipping up coconut whipped cream, grain-free batters and cookies, and for even making my own Chocolate Mint Love Butter for the bedroom! Oh yes, my mixer has been worth every penny! So, here’s your chance to win a brand new KitchenAid Mixer…and if you make my Love Butter, you MUST let me know how you loved it!

How to Enter for Your Chance to Win: 

1.  CLICK HERE to check out the mixer on Amazon to see what you could win! (Come back and after reading to finish steps 2 & 3).

2. Subscribe to The Paleo Mama, my weekly newsletter highlighting the latest posts and health tips from me!


(If your already a subscriber just continue to step 3…)

3. Leave a comment letting us know what you would make first with the KitchenAid Mixer! 

4. Use the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of this post to confirm these entries and unlock more!

***For more ways to win, be sure to visit all the blogs responsible for this giveaway!***

Bacon & Whipped Cream

Nourishing Herbalist

Nourishing Time

Oh, The Things We’ll Make

Ever Growing Farm

Small Footprint Family

The Dabblist

The Urban Ecolife

Life Sanity

Note: If you cannot see the Rafflecopter widget below, click here to see the widget and enter now.

 

Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

A winner will be chosen via random.org. We will announce the lucky winner on Tuesday, November 19th, 2013. The winner will have 48 hours to contact (nourishingherbalist at gmail dot com) with his/her full name, address, and phone number. There is no purchase necessary to win. This giveaway is open to everyone, but the KitchenAid Mixer will only be shipped to U.S. or Canadian residents. Winners who live outside of these areas will receive an Amazon gift card in the amount of the item sale price on Amazon. 

 

Help The Paleo Mama Out!!!

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HELP

Hey everyone! I have a HUGE request and need your help. 2013 is quickly drawing to a close and I plan on creating plenty of great content for you in the coming year – including ebooks, an online class, and lots of great posts.

I’ve got lots to share about Paleo, natural living, raising Paleo kids, and health/wellness. But, I need your help. I want to make sure to create content that you want and need. So, I’m taking a really quick survey on Survey Monkey.com to see what my readers are more interested in.

Please fill out this quick survey to help me decide which classes and books to offer next year. Thank you SO MUCH!

>>>Click here to fill it out!  <<<

 

Thank you again! This is such a big help!

 

Jackie @ The Paleo Mama

Smoky Roasted Butternut Soup

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These cool autumn days in Western North Carolina have me wishing that I had a freezer stash of my homemade chicken stock. It seems that as soon as I make chicken stock, it is gone the next day! We love soup in our house and this particular soup, Smoky Roasted Butternut Soup, is one of our favorites. It’s a deeply nourishing soup to go with the chilly fall air. It’s loaded with nutrition (homemade stock, ginger, cumin) to help fight off colds and keep the immune system healthy.

There are many ways and methods to make stock, but I do mine a very simple way in my crockpot. I throw the bones and organs in my crockpot, along with a few carrots, a few sticks of celery, an onion, a few garlic cloves, and a inch-long piece of ginger. I fill it up with water and cook on low for, at least, 24 hours. For step-by-step directions you can check out this post I wrote, “Good Broth Resurrects the Dead.” 

With the autumn chill rolling in, you will find a beautiful assortment of squashes and pumpkins at your grocer or Farmer’s Market. This past week I picked up a delicious, organic butternut squash and made one of my favorite soups with it. We like to throw a protein on top of our soups since soup is the main dish of our meals. Some great protein sources to throw on soup is leftover chicken, boiled eggs, or ground meat. Chicken really compliments the smooth, sweet taste of the butternut, so that is my recommendation!

Smoky Roasted Butternut Soup

Ingredients: 

  • 9 cups of chicken stock (this is how I make mine), divided use
  • 1 butternut squash
  • 6 TB of butter/ghee/bacon fat/coconut oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 TB of sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ginger
  • 2 TB cumin
  • Protein of choice: boiled eggs or leftover chicken
  • Top with sour cream (optional)

Items Needed:

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the butternut squash in half. Scrape out the seeds. Put the butternut squash with the cut side up on a baking tray. Put a tablespoon of butter or ghee in each cavity. Place in the oven, uncovered, and bake until fork-tender; about an hour.

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2. Remove the squash from the oven and allow it to cool until you can handle it. Use a spoon and scrape the squash out.

3. Put the squash and 1 cup of chicken stock in a blender and puree till smooth. Set aside.

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4. In a heavy stock pot or dutch oven, heat 4 TB of your fat of choice (I use butter) over medium-high heat.

5. Add the onions and the garlic and sauté until soft and translucent; about 5 minutes.

6. Add the squash puree, stock, cumin, ginger, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes to allow the spices to blend.

7. Top with your protein of choice and serve with a dollop of sour cream (optional).

Enjoy!

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Raspberry Chocolates

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I’m excited to post this delicious recipe that Stephanie from Good Girl Gone Green has offered to share with my readers! Make sure you check out Stephanie’s Facebook page to stay up-to-date on all the delicious recipes she is posting! I know you are going to love this recipe for Raspberry Chocolates! Please welcome my friend Stephanie! 

Homemade chocolate tastes better than any store bought on the market and you have control over all the ingredients. No soy lecithin or milk or unrecognizable ingredients that sometimes sneak up you without warning.

They are a pinch to make- it is just waiting for the chocolate to set that can be cumbersome. But totally worth it. Add some creamy raspberry filling to your chocolate experience and you have a wining combination and healthy treat for you and your family.

Do you make your own chocolates?

RASPBERRY CHOCOLATES

Yield: 12 chocolate raspberry cups depending on the size of your molds

Ingredients

Chocolate

Raspberry Filling

  • 2 cups of raspberries
  • 5-6 medjool dates
  • 1/2 cup of cashews, soaked for 4 hours

What you need

Method

Chocolate

  1. Gently melt the cacao butter in a pot or double boiler.
  2. Once melted, add the cacao powder, vanilla powder to the pot and stir to combined.
  3. Next, add your liquid sweetener of choice. Stir.
  4. Set aside

Raspberry Filling

  1. Add the raspberries to a high powered blend and blend until completely smooth.
  2. Add the dates. Blend together until the dates are broken up
  3. Now add the cashews and blend up until a creamy texture.

Assembling the chocolates

  1. Take your silicone cupcakes liners and place them in muffin tins.
  2. Spoon the chocolate mixture into each muffin liner. Place in the freezer until solid, which should take about 10 minutes.
  3. Spoon the raspberry mixture over the solid chocolate. Place back in the freezer. This will take several hours to become solid.
  4. Spoon the remaining chocolate over the raspberry mixture and place in the freezer until hard. Another 10 minutes.

Tips and Notes

  • You can sub macadamia nuts for cashews, but it will lend a slightly different taste.
  • You can use coconut oil instead of cacao butter, but the chocolate will be more brittle and hard. The chocolate containing coconut oil will will melt faster once taken out of the freezer. The cacao butter chocolate has a more chewy texture.
  • Experiment with any berry! I have used blueberries and they are tasty. They just don’t make as nice a picture with the contrast.
  • You can substitute carob for the cacao, but the taste will most definitely be different.
  • You will most probably have some extra raspberry filling left and potentially some chocolate. I just pilled it all in a small dish and froze the left overs.

Raspberry Chocolates

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Stephanie is a tree hugger and plant-based real foodie trying her best to make a difference on this planet. To say she is passionate about “all things green” and simply calling her passion environmentalism is an understatement! You can find her collecting trash on the streets or along the water, creating raw treats in the kitchen or simply making a difference over on her blog, Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter and Pinterest.

 

Help Me Pick My Next Giveaway!

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Hey everyone! I’ve had so much fun with my last 2 giveaways! We have had 2 grateful winners! The first winner won a Vitamix and this past week, a new mommy won a $400 Le Creuset cookware set!

Well, guess what?! It’s time for another!!!!!! But I want to hear what YOU WANT TO WIN!

So leave me a comment on THIS blog post and tell me which of these 4 things you want to win!

$350 Pre-paid amazon gift card (click here to check it out)
• KitchenAid Mixer (click here to check it out)
• Canon Rebel (click here to check it out)
• Vitamix (click here to check it out)
• iPad Mini (click here to check it out)

Check out each of these items and leave me a comment below and tell me what you want!!!

Thanks everyone!

Jackie @ The Paleo Mama