Paleo Irish Soda Bread

 

The traditional Irish Soda Bread is made from just 4 ingredients - Flour, Baking Soda, salt and soured milk ( buttermilk). It is a simple bread that was baked daily to go with meals. 

The search for a good Paleo bread leads to this recipe from Elana's Pantry (<= click). I made a few modification to the recipe. I omitted the raisins and caraway seeds for the simple reason "If your "soda bread" has raisins, it's not "soda bread!  It's called "Spotted Dog" or "Railway Cake"!  If it contains raisins, eggs, baking powder, sugar or shortening, it's called "cake", not "bread."  All are tasty, but not traditional Irish Soda Bread!"

This is a real simple bread. Easy to bake and yet very tasty. The hubby and I agreed that this is probably the best paleo bread we ever bake.

Ingredients ( my adapted version)

2 ¾ cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Direction
1. In a large bowl combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a smaller bowl combine eggs, agave and apple cider vinegar
3.  Mix wet ingredients into dry Place dough on a piece of parchment paper and form dough into a large, flat circle that is 8 inches across and 1 ½ inches tall
4.  Using a serrated knife, score top of dough about an inch and a half an inch deep in shape of a cross
5. Transfer dough and parchment to a baking sheet
6. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, then turn off oven and leave bread in for 10 more minutes.

~bel~

Paleo (Vegan) Chocolate Cookies with hint of Baileys

 

Its raining ! The hubby and I are both snuggled up at home.....both hungry and yet not wanting to drive out to get something to eat. 

I told the hubby that I want to bake something but do not know what. "Chocolate chip Cookies" came the answer.... and so this started the fanatic search for a cookie recipe. I found a double chocolate cookies recipe at Against All Grains and decided to adapt it to the ingredients I have at home.

I saw our bottle of Baileys sitting at the kitchen counter when I was mixing the ingredients and the thought creep into my head. " what do you think of Baileys in the cookies"... I asked the hubby. " Yeah.. why not" came the reply... and so Baileys was added to the dough :)

This is one of the better Paleo or vegan cookies recipes.. hint of Baileys is always good. It has the stamp of approval from the hubby... so it must be good:)

Ingredients( My adapted version)

2 cups blanched almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
 1/2 cup ghee or coconut oil , melted
 1/2 cup of honey (or similar sweetener of choice)
 2 tablespoon Baileys (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine remaining dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl.
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients ( except Baileys) and combined
5. Mixed in the Baileys ( if using)
 6. Use a small cookie dough scoop or form into 1/2 inch balls and place on a parchment paper (or Silpat) lined cookie sheet.
5.  Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes.
6. Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes before removing so they set – otherwise they will be too soft and may fall apart.

No Bean Chili

 

Bbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..... and what we need is another chili night.  The hubby made this on Saturday from a recipe from Allrecipe. This is an easy recipe but really yummy. We ate it with some hot dog. It made good leftover too. We  have hervos racheous with it today for breakfast....so good.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin 1
 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

( we use a pound of beef and a pound of turkey and doubled the ingredients accordingly)

Direction:
1. Crumble the ground beef into a stock pot or large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic, and cook stirring frequently until beef is evenly browned. Drain off excess grease. Season with chili powder, oregano, cumin and hot sauce.
3. Stir in the tomatoes and vinegar.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 1 hour - or longer if you have time. Stir occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom.

Paleo Ginger Bread Cake

I have to admit that I have not had ginger bread cake ( well, I do not have sweet tooth....So I hardly eat cakes) till a week ago when the hubby bought one from Starbucks. I took a bite and love it.. and so the search for Paleo version begins.

Googled " Paleo ginger spice bread" and the most often popped up recipe is this Paleo Ginger Bread Cake with Maple frosting ( <+ click). For some reason, the recipe does not appeal to me... so the search continues.

I saw this Honey Cake recipe from Elana's Pantry and decided to use it as a base for my own Paleo Ginger Bread Cake :)

Ingredients ( Adapted)
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 table spoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of ground ginger
1 tablespoon of nutmeg
1 tablespoon of pumpkin spice mix
1/2 cup of oil ( coconut or canola)
1/2 cup of honey ( or more if you like it sweet)
4 eggs


Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 8"x8" baking pan
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
3. Beat the eggs till pale yellow and frothy
4. Add in oil and honey to the eggs
5. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes

~enjoy~

Crockpot Beef Stew

 

I really do not like this picture. It does not do justice to the beef stew. This is probably one of the best recipe for beef stew.. well.. even the hubby who is not a fan of beef stew agreed with me. And of course... it has to be good since I am the creator of this recipe :)

I have been looking at a number of beef stew recipes and most of them contain some ingredients which I do not like.. so I decided to create my own :)

This is really a good recipe for a busy day... a crockpot and 10 minutes of preparation time and Bingo.. dinner is done.

Ingredients:

 2 pounds of stew meat

 3-4 carrot , chopped

3-4 celery, chopped

2 potatoes

1 onion - chopped coursely

2 cup of beef broth

2 cup of red wine

1 table spoon of thyme ( more to taste)

1 table spoon of oregano ( more to taste)

1 small can tomato paste 

1 teaspoon of paparika

3-4 bay leave

Cayenne pepper ( to taste)

Pepper and salt ( to taste)

Direction

1.  Season the stew meat with the spices, salt and pepper for at least 30 minutes

2. Lay the crockpot with the onion , carrot and celery

3. Put in the seasoned stew meat

4. Pour the beef broth and wine into the crockpot, add in the tomato paste ( add in more thyme and oregano to taste) and bay leaves

5. Stir and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours

~enjoy~

Paleo Gumbo (Crockpot)

 

I have been thinking of Gumbo since I saw the pack of Andouille sausage which the hubby bought. So the search begins for a good recipe. Its hard to find a recipe which I like so I decided to create my own using various source. 

 Surprisingly, my creation turn out pretty good. The hubby had two helpings... so it must be good :

Ingredients: 

One and half pound of chicken breast, cut into cube

A pack of Andouille sausage

One green pepper, diced

One onion, chopped

11/2 cup of okra, diced

1 cup of diced tomato with juice

2 cup of chicken stock

1 tablespoon of paparika

1 tablespoon of oregano

1 tablespoon of thyme

1 teaspoon of celery seed

1 teaspoon of cayenne (more or less to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Marinate the chicken with the spices for at least 30 minutes

2. Brown the sausage in a pan with olive oil. 

3. Brown the chicken in the pan after the sausage.

4. Lay the crockpot with onion,pepper, okara. Add in the chicken stock and diced tomato.

5. Add the saugage and chicken. Add in more spices if desired

6. Cook for 7-8 hours on low

~enjoy~

 

Paleo Crockpot ribs

 

I have to admit that I am a ribs freak ! I love ribs and I think I could eat ribs everyday. It is hard to find Paleo ribs in restaurants. Most of the ribs sold in restaurants are slabbed with tons of sugar. 

I have been looking for a good crockpot ribs recipe. Ribs in crockpot ? Yes.... surprisingly crockpot makes good ribs :)

I saw this recipe at Paelosprit and decided to make it using the crockpot. The picture probably do not do justice to the ribs we had last night. They were so good. The BBQ sauce is awesome... my boy gives it two thumb up :)

Ingredients for ribs ( My version)
1 slab of ribs ( I use spareribs)
1/4 cup coconut crystals -optional  ( I omitted this)

2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon dry basil (crushed)
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper ( I think 2 teaspoon is slightly spicy. I use about one teaspoon)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 onion
1 potato

Direction
1. Combined all ingredients (except potato and onion) in a small bowl to create a dry rub
2. Wash and pat dry the ribs. Add the dry rub onto the rubs. Let stand for 30 mintes
3.Chopped onion and potato into big chucks and lay them on the crockpot as base
4. Add the ribs into the crockpot and cook low for 8 hours

Ingredients for the BBQ sauce

1 1/2 cups of cooking juices from the ribs (or beef stock)
3 cloves fresh garlic, finely diced
6 oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup prepared mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
black pepper to taste

Direction
1. combine drippings (or stock) and the diced garlic and simmer in a medium sauce pan for 5 minutes.  2. Whisk in remaining ingredients and simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or more if you like a thicker sauce






Enjoy

~bel~