Coconut Pancakes and Waffles

I found this video on Mark's Daily Apple. It was a user submission for a recipe contest held during a month-long primal challenge in September. It looks fabulous!

Pumpkin Pie

This is another recipe sampled from Mark's Daily Apple in a post about primal pie fillings. It is rather high in carbs for an everyday food, but it is a delicious way to enjoy a traditional dessert for thanksgiving while staying allergen (ie grain and dairy) free.


Crust:
1 Cup Almond Meal
1 whole egg
2 TB coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt


Soften the coconut butter until it is soft or slightly melted. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Line a pie plate with with parchment paper and plop the ball of dough in the center. Brush the dough with a little extra coconut oil (so it doesn't stick) and use your fingers to spread it into the crust. Bake at 400 for 15 mins.

Filling:
1 Cup fresh or canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup maple sugar flakes
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger

Mix everything together and pour into the pre-baked pie crust. My pie plate was rather shallow, so this amount of filling turned out to be slightly too much and I didn't use all of it. Return to the oven and bake at 350 for 30-35 mins.

I found the organic maple flakes at sobeys. It's just dried maple syrup which makes it basically pure sugar. Whether this really qualifies as anything close to paleo, I can't decide...

Hoisin Sauce Recipe

I was in the "Oriental" aisle at Sobeys comparing ingredient lists on bottles of Hoisin Sauce (for an upcoming pork tenderloin recipe) only to find myself horrified by all of them. For example, The Golden Dragon Hoisin Sauce ingredients are: Water, Sugar, Soy Beans, Salt, Modified Corn Starch, Vinegar, Spices, Caramel Color, Wheat, Maltodextrin, Sodium Benzoate (a preservative). I thought, that can't possibly be the original, authentic recipe for this stuff. So I set off to find a recipe and make my own.

4 TB Organic Tamari soy sauce

2 TB black bean paste*

1 TB honey or molasses or brown sugar

2 tsp white vinegar

1/8 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp sesame oil

20 drops habanero hot sauce

1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper

*you can use peanut butter as a substitute if you can't find black bean paste

Mix well until everything is fully incorporated.

Inside Laura's Fridge

Kaiser the dog approves.

Laura (one of CrossFit BRIO's cavegirl athletes) prepares for the week of paleo food that lies ahead with a fridge full of ready-to-eat options. The elk jerky is marinating, the veggies are sliced, the eggs are waiting, and the fresh roasted chicken is ready! The non-primal food, she says, all belongs to her fiance!

Soy Sauce

Okay, so you may have noticed several of my recipes involve soy sauce in the marinades and sauces. Technically, made from soy beans (a legume) and usually containing wheat (eek!) soy sauce is a no-no on a paleo plan.

1. Small amounts - first off, the amount of soy sauce that I use is generally 1 or maybe 2 TB, spread into a recipe yielding several servings. I try not to get to worked up about the teeny tiny amounts of the substances that make their way into my food. I would spend time stressing about whether every pieces of meat I ate was pastured/grass finished before I would hyperventilate about whether that 1 TB of soy sauce had trace amount of wheat in it.

2. Fermentation - Soy sauce is made from fermented soy beans and it is this process that neutralizes many of the bad stuff in soy beans. A couple thousand years ago in asia people figured out that if they fermented their beans and grains first, everybody seemed to get less sick from eating them.

3. Wheat Free Options - If you are seriously gluten intolerant, there are wheat free options such as this one from VH sauces.

4. Get the good stuff - Cheaper options are usually made from hydrolyzed soy protein instead of brewing and fermenting naturally. The resultant product is not the same dark color as real soy sauce and so this liquid is then colored with caramel coloring. Check the ingredient label and look for simple, pronounceable, non-chemical ingredients.

Cavegirl at Costco: What's in the Cart

Costco is mostly known for 12lb bags of doritos and giant boxes of more microwaveable burritos than any person should consume in a life time. But hidden between the tubs of jumbo M&M cookies and the frozen pizza aisle is this little oasis of paleo heaven: the meat section and the fresh produce section. From a foraging expedition this afternoon, here's a peek in my cart:

• 2 bags of spinach
• 3-pack of cucumbers
• 1 bag of broccoli
• tub of blueberries
• head of cauliflower
• 6-pac bag of red and yellow peppers
• 3-pac bag of celery hearts
• 5lb bag of sweet onions
• 1kg of pecans
• 1kg of almonds
• Alder smoked bacon
• Pack of fresh figs (not sure what I'm going to do with those yet...)
• 2 eye round beef roasts
• 4 pork tenderloins
• 1 large tray boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 large tray bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• 1 large tray chicken drumsticks
• 2 racks pork back ribs