Paleo Ghost Cookies

We needed some Halloween treats, so we made up a batch of The Food Lover's Primal Palate CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES but left out the chips, formed them into ghost shapes, and added two Enjoy Life chocolate chips as eyes.

Adorable aren't they?

Carrot Cake Muffins - Sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free

We found a recipe for gluten-free carrot cake on a diabetic website, it uses stevia and raisins as its only sweetener. We were skeptical but it turned out REALLY good! We made it into 24 muffins and we loved them. Little Chef ate THREE of them!

 We used this recipe HERE. Perfect for breakfast or a snack on the go!

 

Fall Goodies

Summer is over. :-(
But....that does mean we are back in the kitchen! :-)

We used a few of Elana's Pantry's recipes to whip up some Fall goodies! (In her recipes we use coconut syrup in place of agave syrup and coconut oil in place of grapeseed oil.)

First we made her Vanilla Cupcakes but added in some pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice, we didn't get a photo of these those but they were really good!

Than we took her Ginger Cookies and turned them into Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies. We replaced the ginger with pumpkin pie spice and were amazing! SO soft and chewy. 

Then we took her Chocolate Cupcake recipe, doubled it, added dark chocolate chips, walnuts, and made a wonderful cake. We made a frosting out of coconut cream, stevia, and 100% strawberry preserves. So rich!

 To make up for these treats we ate a really light dinner, well if you consider bacon light...heh. BLT wraps!

Meet Mr. Happy Hoppy

He's grain-free, gluten-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free but still as cute as a button! 

How we did it:

*We made a double batch of The Spunky Coconut's Vanilla Bean Cake 

and baked it into two cake rounds.

*After it cooled we cut one cake into ears and a bow tie, but the bow tie did't fit on our platter so we had to eat it as samples!(Her bean cake is perfect for shaped cakes as it holds up so well.)

* Then we made a batch of whipped coconut cream and frosted the cake. We then covered it in shredded, unsweetened coconut flakes, and used all-fruit jelly for the ears. We put on a strawberry nose and mouth, applesauce and dark chocolate for the eyes, and rice noodles for the whiskers!

Yummy!!!

Gluten-Free Birthday Cupcake Tower!!

It's Sister Chef's Birthday!
But her party isn't until this weekend.
Which bothered Little Chef...."She has to have a cake TODAY! Not later, it's not her birthday later, it's her birthday TODAY!"
We tried to tell him that Sister Chef was going to have a lovely cheesecake and fancy appetizers at her party in a few days and didn't mind that she was not getting a cake today.
We reminded him that we had put a candle in her pancakes and let her open one gift.
But no...."Birthdays need cakes so I going to make her one! When she get home from school there WILL BE CAKE!"

So momma chef gave in and said they could use the new cupcake stand she had found at a thrift store, for one dollar!

She quickly regretted that decision because the stand took forever to assemble together...Daddy Chef usually does all things that require parts and instructions. She finally got it though!

We used our Chocolate Chip Banana Cake recipe because Little Chef loves mashing bananas.

Putting liners in the muffin tin is fun too!

While the cupcakes were in the oven Little Chef learned all about patterns.

Once they were done they looked so yummy!

 

We usually eat theses plain, like a muffin.

But of course birthdays require frosting! (melted dark chocolate chips)
And natural sprinkles too! 

Then we put them on the cupcake stand and it was perfect, they just screamed "Birthday!"

And Little Chef was happy.
And Sister Chef loved the surprise from her best bud.

 

Who says a gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, corn-free birthday has to be boring? 

Not us! 

And there were tons left over so we put those in the freezer so we can have our gluten-free cupcake tower at the party too!

Happy Birthday Sister Chef!

For more Slightly Indulgent Tuesday go HERE! 

Whipped "Dairy-Free" Coconut Cream

Strawberries are on sale all over!

So, grab a can of coconut milk and stick it in your fridge overnight.

The next day the "cream" will have risen to the top so scoop it out into a bowl.

Save the "water" for a later use, such as a smoothie.

You may add a bit of sweetener if you wish or some people like it plain.

Beat it until it reaches a whipped consistency.

Add strawberries and enjoy!

Don't forget to enter our giveaway HERE to win free coconut oil and coconut flour! Giveaway ends March 14th, 2011.

For more Slightly Indulgent Tuesday go HERE!
For more Gluten-Free Wednesday go HERE!
For more Real Food Wednesday go HERE!

OMG Cookies!!!

There are no other words to describe these cookies except OMG!!!

We stumbled upon THIS blog the other day and saw their RECIPE for some amazing grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free cookies and decided to test them out.

BEST. Decision. Ever!

Seriously. Go make some. Now. 

They tasted the same, no better, than any "normal" cookie we've ever had. No one would be able to tell the difference. No one!

We used coconut sap instead of maple syrup but otherwise followed it exactly.

Everyone said we should make these at least once a week, if not more. :-p

Oh and stay tuned because next week we will have TWO awesome giveaways!!! Fun!

Easy Shrimp & Scallops w/ Spaghetti Squash (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free)

This is one flavorful dish, so good! Daddy Chef said it tasted like it came from a fancy restaurant. So rich and garlicky!

We based ours on this RECIPE, but we made a few changes to make it easier to prepare, we're not ones to keep taking items out of pans. :-)

We cooked the garlic but then just added everything else to the pan at once, including more broth than they recommend. We also added some cilantro. And we let it simmer for longer, until the liquid reduced into a nice sauce.

Then we poured it over buttered & salted spaghetti squash "noodles". (You could use oil in place of butter, if needed.) We also added a few slices of lemon to the top, it's so much better if you squeeze lemon juice over the top before devouring.

For more Seasonal Sunday recipes go HERE!


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And for dessert we made cookies! Snickerdoodles!
We took Elana's Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe but left out the chocolate chips and instead rolled them in cinnamon and coconut sugar.

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Junior Chefs' Opinions!
Sister Chef: "Loved them both! Spicy and Sweet! 10 stars!"

Brother Chef: "The shrimp was hot but good! The cookies were awesome! 10 stars!"

Little Chef: "Yum and Yuck to both!"(He took a bite of the shrimp and said he liked it. But halfway through said he didn't like it anymore. Same with the cookies. lol)

Chocolate Covered Cherry Chiller! (Dairy-Free Smoothie)

Ok, no joking...this was the best smoothie we have EVER made!!

And it was soooooo simple!

Only 4 ingredients!!

We just tossed some unsweetened chocolate almond milk into the blender along with a little bit of coconut sap/sugar and blended it for a minute. Then we tossed in a bag of frozen unsweetened cherries and blended it up some more. Then we added in ice cubes on at a time until it was the consistency we wanted, we like thick!

It was insanely delicious!And the perfect after school snack!

10 stars from everyone! We might have to stock up on cherries! 

Recipe Review: Easy Black & White Cake

We are huge fans of Elana's Pantry! Her foods are so scrumptious and her way of eating follows along well with ours so we can enjoy most all her recipes. We browse her recipes weekly and her cookbooks are on our wish-list.

Today Sister Chef said "I want cake....but I'm too tired to make one, they are so much work...and too many dishes afterward." Then, of course, Brother Chef and Little Chef started yelling that they wanted cake too! Luckily Momma Chef had just saw a recipe on Elana's Pantry that said it was quick and an easy clean-up! And no frosting required!

So, we decided to test out her Easy Black and White Cake!

We had to make a few modifications, just a couple though, but it turned the cake in a triple chocolate cake! 
* We used Dark Chocolate Chips instead of white
* We used Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk instead of coconut milk
* We added some Chocolate Flavored Stevia Drops

The cake was indeed really easy to make! Just a few ingredients, only took 5 minutes to mix up, and only one pot to clean! We will be making this often when we need a quick dessert!!

Now how did it taste you ask?

AMAZING! So soft and sweet and chocolaty! It was just perfect along with a glass of almond milk! Everyone in the house gave it 10 stars!! Except Sister Chef, she gave it 20! :-)

We love it when healthy foods make such huge smiles! 

While the cake might be easy clean up....we can't guarantee the same for little chefs!

Thanks Elana!

Easy Apple Crisp (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free)

We don't eat a lot of fruit, too high in fructose which our tummies do not like. When we do, we eat the ones that have low fructose levels.
(Fruits that are lowest in fructose levels and easiest to digest include berries such as strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, lemons, limes, pineapples, avocado, rhubarb, bananas and oranges. Fruits that have a high fructose content include prunes, pears, peaches, cherries, apples, plums, applesauce, apple and pear juices, apple cider, and grapes.)

However, at our last shopping trip we saw that apples and apple pie spice were on clearance...and we felt that was too good to pass up.

So we sliced the apples.

And sprinkled them heavily with spice and maple syrup.

 

And topped them with a mixture of coconut flour, coconut sugar, shredded coconut,  and grass-fed butter. Don't worry, it sounds like a lot of coconut products but it won't taste like coconut, we promise. In fact if you can't eat butter you can use coconut oil too!  

(Grass-fed butter is the only dairy that our tummies can handle,

as is has too little lactose to cause a problem.)

All ready for the oven!

We ate it while it was hot and steamy. The soft apples and crispy topping with a hint of sweetness was complete perfection. 

Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

10 stars from everyone! :-P