Salted Sunbutter Cups with Raw Chocolate {Paleo}

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Sunbutter Cups Bite
Joy comes in a new, creamy, salty, sweet form.

Friends.  I’ve done the unthinkable.

I’ve given up refined Sugar for the summer.

No Salt & Straw.

No Petunia’s.

No sweet treats from Cascadia Bakery.

Because I have a problem.  Sugar means too much to me.  I can’t resist it right now.  I need to give it up for a while until I can use it responsibly.

Which might be never.  But I’m giving it until September, just to be sure. Because I don’t want the diabeetus.

One of my favorite treats is chocolate and peanut butter, but because of FPIES, we can’t keep peanuts in the house.  I love sunflower seed butter (aka sunbutter) as a substitute for peanut butter.  It’s safe for peanut and tree nut allergy peeps, and gives a comparable, creamy taste.  I don’t miss it peanut butter at all.  In fact, you can pretty much always find me with a spoonful of sunbutter in my hand when I get too busy and forget to feed myself.

I’m also pretty committed to using raw cacao nibs when possible.  Raw cacao is full of antioxidants, magnesium, potassium, fiber, and can help fight heart disease and lift your mood naturally.  With a little bit of coconut oil for good measure, these treats aren’t just freaking delicious, they’re also super healthy for you.

Sign me up.  Twice.

I shared these with some of my best friends who are also trying to leave that jerk, Sugar, behind.  The consensus? We can no longer live without them.

Sunbutter Mini Cups

Ingredients for Chocolate Layer:

  • 1/2 cup ground cacao nibs (I use my nutribullet, but a coffee grinder would work, too.)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1-2 Tbsp raw honey, or erythritol
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for Sunbutter Fudge Filling:

  • 3/4 cup sunbutter
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 2 Tbsp raw honey or erythritol
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions for Chocolate Layer:

  1. Whisk together all the ingredients until fully incorporated.
  2. Pour into lined cupcake or mini-cupcake molds, filling about 1/3 of the way.
  3. Pop in freezer for 15 minutes until solid.

Directions for Sunbutter Fudge:

  1. Whisk all ingredients together.
  2. Pour mixture on top of frozen chocolate.
  3. Freeze or refrigerate until firm.
  4. Remove from refrigerator or freezer for 3 minutes, add flake salt on top, and devour.

These stay good forever in the freezer, and several weeks in a sealed container in the refrigerator.  But good luck.  The sunbutter cups haven’t survived 24 hours in my house.  Maybe ever.

Open your heart and let the sunbutter in,

Carrie

Mediterranean Tabbouleh {Gluten-Free}

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This is a big day for me, friends. This is our first (of many) guest recipe posts.  It looks like this little blog is growing up fast!

Having tasted several of Kileah and Micah’s dishes, I can personally vouch for the delectable awesomeness of everything they make.  Plus, they call themselves hobbits and love all things Scottish (and apparently Middle Eastern).  All four of their tiny hobbit children are funny, sweet, curious, spirited and full of energy. Read on to see what they feed their brood, and fall in love with their version of GF Mediterranean fare.  

From Kileah:

My husband and I love good food.

We have a special food-shaped hole in our hearts labled Middle Eastern Food. In our most recent quest to make sure we live to 100 and not die on the couch watching our favourite Firefly and Arrow re-runs (gluten free brownie points for those of you who’ve watched all of the Firefly episodes!!!), we have been focusing on:

  • how much we eat
  • what we eat
  • the quality of our ingredients
  • it passes the “7-year-old test”

Because we have four small hobbits who also like to eat, if we prepare food that they don’t like…well…let’s just say we have a Shire Situation on our parenting hands.

Ok, back to food! So here’s our take on a quick and easy summer Tabbouleh. If you’ve never eaten tabbouleh, (insert sad hobbit face), it’s a middle-eastern salad chocked full of fresh summer tomatoes and herbs and the itsy bitsy teensy pasta. Normally, traditional couscous is made from wheat, but we prefer using a good brown-rice version of this tiny pasta and it’s just as fantastic! The brown rice couscous enhances the flavor and texture of the dish and leaves us feeling satisfied without the heavy feeling of traditional wheat pasts.

TabboulehGF1

(editor’s note:  You can get the gluten-free couscous at vitacost.com or whole foods, etc.)

Ingredients:

  • 2 c. water
  • 2 T. ghee
  • ¼ c. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 ½ c. brown rice couscous
  •  2 c. chopped heirloom tomatoes
  • 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
  • ½ .c. organic mint leaves, chopped
  • 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
  • ½ c. crumbled feta cheese
  • ¾ c. roasted/sliced almonds
  • kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Bring water and ghee to a boil in a small pot, add in couscous and lemon juice, turn down heat to simmer for 5 minutes, then remove pan from heat.
  2. Add tomatoes, cilantro, mint, shallot, feta and sliced almonds together in a large bowl.
  3. Fluff couscous with a fork and add to the tomato/herb mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste
  4. Cover and chill in fridge until ready to eat. If you can wait that long.
  5. Live Long and Prosper!

May the Couscous Be With You!

-The McIlvains

Boston Cream Pie {Grain Free, Low Glycemic}

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A few years ago, I went to Boston for the very first time.

Well, that’s not entirely true. The first-first time I went to Boston, I was 20 years old and drove a 15 passenger van with a U-Haul trailer through downtown during a baseball game.

It was harrowing.

I was running on four fitful hours of up-right van sleep, and had about zero experience with big city traffic.  Did I mention that the van was full of a bunch of kids my age?  Because it was.  Who thought that was a good idea?  And WHO put me in the driver’s seat and deemed me qualified to navigate through downtown Boston during a Red Sox game while transporting 14 other human lives?  Holy moly, sometimes I’m amazed that I’m alive and haven’t killed anyone.  Anyway, I don’t really count that trip since we didn’t actually stop in the city and I spent most of my time there in a cursing, white-knuckled terror trying my hardest not to explode the world.

So, the second-first time I went to Boston I was about 10 years older, well-rested, traveling solo, and intent on eating  Boston Cream Pie at Bread & Chocolate Bakery.  My delightful New England-y friends, Gwyn and Becky, promised to show me the best Boston had to offer.  Unsurprisingly, we got distracted by other food, namely fresh lobster rolls and a cannoli taste-off between Mike’s and Modern.  (Mike’s won.)  I never got my Boston Cream Pie, but that’s okay.  People make me happy, happier than food.  Most of the time.  And I was also in a sugar-induced coma from the 5 cannoli I ate, so I wouldn’t have enjoyed it anyway.  Much.

I still get a craving for it, though.  It’s also my husband’s very favorite dessert of all time. In fact, while I was gone in Boston, he ate almost an entire Boston Cream Pie by himself over the course of three days.  Because apparently, his sad, missing-me feelings tasted like cake and cream and chocolate.

I’ve adapted the dish for easy-making and consumption.  Dangerous, I know.  Spongy vanilla cake atop a creamy layer of sweet cream cheese, swimming in rich, dark chocolate.  Who needs Boston?  Or a complicated layered dessert?  Or a 15 passenger van?

BOSTONCreamCake

Ingredients for cake:

  • 1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted
  • 1  cup coconut palm sugar or erythritol, divided (I prefer to powder mine in a coffee grinder first for easier break down while baking)
  • 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
  • 8 eggs
  • 1 package cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 vanilla bean, scraped (Take a knife tip and split the bean open. Using the dull side of the blade, scrape.)
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 40 drops Vanilla Stevia liquid, or 1/2 cup coconut sugar or erythritol
  • pinch of sea salt

Directions for cake:

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup erythritol, and baking powder and blend.
  2. Stir together 6 eggs, stevia, vanilla bean, butter, apple cider vinegar, and add to dry ingredients with an electric mixer.
  3. Spread batter into a greased 8×8 glass baking dish.
  4. Cream the remaining 2 eggs, cream cheese, 1/2 cup erythritol, vanilla extract and 20 drops stevia in a bowl.
  5. Pour mixture on top of batter.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Chocolate Sauce:
Take 2.5 ounces of super-dark chocolate (80% or more), and melt with 2 Tbsp of butter or coconut oil over your make-shift double boiler.  Sweeten with stevia to taste, and add a Tbsp of heavy cream if you want a more liquid consistency.

Assembly:
Cut pieces of the cake and turn upside down so the cream cheese layer is on the bottom.  Drizzle the chocolate sauce over the top and serve slightly warm.

I never promised that this was low calorie or even healthy.  But in reasonable quantities, it will soothe your cravings and give you something really tasty.

Go Sox!
Carrie

Not Your Mom’s Lasagna {Gluten Free)

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LasagnaMany many years ago, I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I moved there for a specialized school program.

I loved it.

I lived in old, adorable, slightly crusty houses with my best friends.  Original hardwood floors, seven layers of wallpaper that we determined MUST come off the walls before we could settle there, and yards perfect for laying down under the stars. Once a month, we had Family Dinner.  We invited our circle of friends, (and their friends) to come over, enjoy a simple meal, and hang out.  It usually ended with candles, guitars, original music by our crazy talented friends, lots of ridiculous jokes, and sometimes riding out a tornado warning in our ultra-creepy basement.

We were lucky.  Our group of friends just WORKED.  Compared to many of my other friends’ college experiences, our group of friends experienced very little drama.  Even from the beginning, we were determined to have fun and do great things and live like bohemians.  And we did. Kind of.

15 years later, we are still friends.  We lost a few friends early on, gained a few spouses, a couple of kids and dogs, and somehow all ended up on the West Coast within just a few hours of each other.  It became clear to us when we landed here that we are no longer friends.

We are a tribe.

In the interest of transparency, we work each other’s nerves sometimes.  We bicker occasionally.  We get angry and shut each other out.  We drift and pull apart.

But we always come back together.

House buying, baby making, parents passing, marriage failing, business thriving, seasons changing…all of it. When it all comes together or falls to pieces, we are usually the first ones to know and always the safest place to land.

A couple of years ago, one of our tribespeople was offered the use of a beach house.  We filled up the house for a long weekend in July.  Last year, we did it again.  And this year I’m writing this post from the same house.

The long Tribe weekend is vital for me.  I can’t speak for the rest of them, but I can say that for myself, I NEED it.  Each family takes a turn cooking dinner, and we eat and drink and laugh and relax after a long day of beach-combing and hiking.

We are lucky.

Empty Dish
My tribe.

 

This year, I chose one of my family’s favorite dishes: lasagna.  This year has seen some really dramatic circumstances in our tribe, and we needed to feel hugged from the inside out.  What better to do that with than noodles and sauce and cheese?  NOTHING, that’s what.

And even though this is exactly like your mom’s lasagna, she didn’t make it.  I DID. And I’m a mom.  So maybe I should rename this post “I’m A Mom Now Lasagna”?

Ingredients:

  • 2 quarts red sauce (for my recipe using fresh tomatoes, click here for the Green Child Magazine article)
  • 1 box uncooked, gluten free lasagna noodles (I prefer Tinkiyada brand)
  • 24 oz shredded mozzerella
  • 12 whole milk ricotta
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
  • 1 lb ground beef, browned

Directions:

  1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef.  Transfer beef to paper towel lined plate.
  2. Pour a tablespoon of the ground beef drippings into your large glass casserole dish, and use it to grease the sides and bottom of pan. Discard the rest of the drippings.
  3. Heat sauce slowly until warm in skillet, and add meat.
  4. In your large, greased casserole dish, layer noodles, sauce, ricotta, then mozzarella IN THIS ORDER. You should have three layers.
  5. Sprinkle parmesan on top, cover with foil, and bake at 400 for 90 minutes.
  6. Remove foil, and broil the top of the lasagna for 2 minutes on high.
  7. Serve immediately with salad and box of your best wine.

You already feel hugged from the inside, don’t you? I do.  Well, maybe that’s because I just ate two helpings of it.  But whatever.  The Tribe liked it and that’s the thing that matters.  But since you’re a part of our extended tribe, I’m pretty sure you will, too.

I can't be sure, but I think they liked it.
I can’t be sure, but I think they liked it.

Still Saucy,
Carrie

PS ~ In case you missed it, here’s a screen cap of the red sauce recipe I made for Green Child Mag.

GreenChildSauce

 

 

 

 

 

Cauliflower Fried Rice {Grain Free}

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CauliflowerRiceCornerI’m always looking for ways to get more vegetables.

You guys.  IT IS HARD.

While I don’t hate grains, (in fact, I adore them), I know my body doesn’t do well with a carbohydrate-heavy diet and I tend to feel uncomfortably full and bloated after eating them.  I also truly believe in a veggie-based diet, especially because I struggle with PCOS and endometriosis.  I have to keep my babymaker in good shape, and the best and first line of health for me is nutrition.  It’s part of an overall commitment to health and hormone balance.

When I can replace grains with veggies, I do. When I can replace grains and not miss them even a little bit, I absolutely do.

I’ve perused Pinterest and have seen the fried rice recipes with cauliflower.  I usually dismissed them because it’s typically so much prep work to get cauliflower to taste like something awesome. But with the fried cauliflower “rice”, it was a total breeze.

Are you ready for my secret weapon?

grater

Yep, a cheese grater.

I’ve tried a food processor, blender, knife tricks, and dicing or mashing after steaming.  The cheese grater, though, was so easy to use (albeit messy).  I just plunked the grater in a deep bowl,  trimmed and quartered the head of cauliflower, then grated away.

Easy.

The final result? A flavorful, slightly spicy dish that is wonderful as a standalone and completely filling and satisfying.  I didn’t miss the rice even a little.

CauliflowerRiceFull

Ingredients:

  • 1 large head cauliflower, trimmed and grated
  • 1 12 oz bag of frozen mixed veggies (I prefer the California Blend)
  • 1 12 oz bag of frozen cut green beans
  • 12 oz of cooked protein of your choice (optional, but leftover meat works great!)
  • 1 head of garlic, minced or crushed
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated or minced
  • Bragg’s Amino Acids, Tamrari, or organic soy sauce (I prefer Bragg’s)
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 Tbsp Avocado oil, ghee, or another high smoking point oil
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
  • Salt and Pepper

Directions:

  1. In a large skillet, add frozen veggies and a tablespoon (or more) of Bragg’s.  If you want some extra spice, add red pepper flakes. Cook on medium high, stirring every five minutes until they are steaming hot.
  2. While vegetables are cooking, sauté onion in a large skillet or wok in 2 tablespoons of oil until translucent.  Add garlic and ginger and cook until soft and slightly golden.
  3. Add grated cauliflower to the garlic, onion, and ginger.  Add remaining oil, two tablespoons of Bragg’s, and mix thoroughly. Allow cauliflower to cook until tender.
  4. Once cauliflower is tender, push it to the sides, creating a hole in the middle of the pan.  A three inch circle of the pan should be exposed.  Crack eggs into the exposed circle, scrambling with a fork or spatula continuously.  The egg will cook into the cauliflower, and that’s okay.
  5. Once your eggs are scrambled, add protein and veggies (minus any liquid), to the cauliflower and mix thoroughly.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

I’m eating this today for lunch as leftovers.  It tastes so good without heating, but reheats like a dream in a skillet on the stove top.

This veggie thing.  It’s not THAT hard.
Carrie