Lemony Blueberry Muffins

My cousin found a recipe for AIP/Paleo Lemon Blueberry Muffins.
I have reintroduced a few foods so was able to modify these a bit to suit what I'm eating these days.

Here is my modified version ...

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 eggs

zest and juice (about 1/4 cup juice) of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract ... I use my homemade stuff
2/3 cup coconut flower

1/4 cup arrowroot flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

a pinch or two of salt
1 cup fresh blueberries (I have also used frozen)

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).  Line muffin tins with preferred liner.

Combine wet ingredients using a whisk.  Reserving blueberries til the end, combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add dry ingredients a little at a time to the wet ingredients, whisk each time until the batter is no longer lumpy.

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Spoon batter equally into 12 muffin cups.

Bake 20 minutes, rotate, bake another 10 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean.

PS.  I sprinkled some cacao nibs on top of a few of these to see if they would be a yummy addition.  I didn't love them.  BUT ... next time I am going to stir the cacao nibs through a few of them and see if it's better that way ...

Sweet Potato French Toast

My husband wanted to have a Good Friday bunch after church.  He wanted bacon, eggs and french toast.  Often, when we have something like that, I'd just eat what I can and not worry about the rest but this time I decided I wanted to try and make some french toast that I can eat.  It was a nice surprise!  I want to play around a bit and see if I can get the egg mixture to stick to the sweet potato a bit better but for now, this was good.

If you are eating AIP, you need to know that this isn't compliant as it has eggs and almond milk.  But once you successfully re-introduce those things, this is something you can try! 

All I did was slice the sweet potato and toast it in the toaster.  I found that the thinner slice was better than the thicker slice.  I toasted it two or three times ... til it was browned.  

Then I made the 'batter" just like normal french toast.  I used an egg, some almond milk, homemade vanilla extract, and a bit of cinnamon.  Dip the toasted sweet potato slices into the batter and then cook in an already heated fry pan.

I topped the toast with a bit of pure maple syrup and fresh raspberries.

And we had scrambled eggs (I just do eggs with nothing added) and some AIP compliant bacon.

A delicious Good Friday brunch! 

Pecan Pie Energy Balls

I got a Thermomix for Christmas. Having been diagnosed with high blood pressure last year, I have had to make a lot of dietary changes ... basically needing to make EVERYTHING (processed) from scratch. I kept thinking that a Thermomix would really help me do that! I was given the opportunity to borrow one from a friend for a few weeks to see they are really all that they are touted to be. They are ... and more! And now, one lives in my kitchen. I'm still learning how to use it to it's full capacity but I use it A LOT!

 

One thing I've been wanting to make is energy balls and when I saw a few recipes for Pecan Pie flavoured ones, I HAD to try them.  (I didn't use any one recipe but a  combination of a few.) I've made these a few times since!!  They are amazing.  Or should I say amazeballs? You know, since they are balls ... No?  Ok ... forget I said that.

Now ... you don't need a Thermomix to make these.  You could totally make them in a food processor. (You might want to do the nuts and dates separately and then add everything else?)

Thermomix measures in grams (right in the machine!!) so I'll put the measurements in grams ... sorry, you'll just have to grab out your kitchen scales!

350g pitted dates

65g rolled oats

30g pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract (I use my homemade vanilla)

1 tsp cinnamon

180g pecans

Chuck them all in the Thermomix together ... 12 seconds on speed 7. 

Roll them into balls.  

And that's it!!

Keep in fridge.  Not that they keep very long ... they get gobbled up pretty quick in this house!

Warm Apple Cinnamon Maple Oats

A quick and easy breakfast for a cool morning.
I throw all of this stuff together and cook it at work sometimes !

All you need is ...
Rolled oats
An apple, finely diced. I like granny smiths.
Raisins (sultanas)
A sprinkle of cinnamon, ground
Pure Maple Syrup

Put the oats, apple and cinnamon in a bowl, cover (just) with water. Cook in microwave for a minute or two. Just til the apple has softened and the oats have cooked to your desired 'cookedness'. Throw in the raisins and top with a small drizzle of maple syrup. Mmmmm.

The most amazing {caesar} salad

We saw this amazing Donna Hay Caesar Salad on Masterchef the other night.
We've had it three times since ! It is amazing !! You will never taste bacon so good !

It is simple to make too ... if you want to watch the video of Donna on Masterchef, click on the link above, go to the Masterclass section and search Donna Hay. You'll find it. She's got some good tips.

Here's how I did ours ... only a tiny bit different.

Bacon ~ enough for each salad to have 2 pieces ~ coat with pure maple syrup ~ throw into pre- heated oven on 160C for 15 - 20 minutes
Soft boiled eggs ~ one for each salad
1/2 a BABY cos lettuce per salad
Garlic bagel crisps ~ in place of croutons
Block of parmesan cheese

For the dressing ~ put the following into the container you use your stick blender in :
1 room temperature egg
2 teaspoons capers
1/2 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup canola oil
salt/pepper

Mix with stick blender til mayo consistency.
Add water a teaspoon or so at a time and stir to make the dressing a buttermilk consistency ...

To assemble ... cos lettuce on plate, top with dressing, add bagel crisps, bacon, egg to plate. Grate parmesan cheese over whole salad. Sooooooooo yum.

We served this with Rory's carbonara ... using homemade pasta.

Rory also made up this tangy mushroom pasta !.
I'm sure he doesn't remember the recipe ... he never does.

Peanut Butter / Choc Chip Popcorn

I got this recipe from my friend Kris.
She's an extraordinary cook !
I hope that one day I can convince her
to start posting recipes here !

I did this exactly as she told me, except that I had some choc chips in the pantry that begged me to throw them into the mix ... I just couldn't resist their pleas !



This is so simple.
Not to mention yummy.

All you need is:
30g butter
45g peanut butter ~ I use one that is 100% peanuts, no sugar
1 tablespoon PURE maple syrup
choc chips ~ optional, if you can resist them
popped popcorn

I pop my popcorn in a pan. A big pan. I cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil, add the popcorn, put the lid on, turn on the heat. I use a med/high heat. I have experimented a bit and found the high heat burned my pan. Med/high doesn't. If you have a popcorn popper, use that. Just get some popped popcorn. Kris says this covers 3 cups of popcorn. I did it the other day and it was probably more like 6 or even 9 cups and it was still deliciously plenty !!

Put the butter, peanut butter and maple syrup in a bowl and microwave ... not even a minute. You just want the butter to melt. Mix thoroughly. Pour on top of popped popcorn and give it a good mix with a spoon. YUM YUM YUM. Don't forget to add the choc chips ....

The kids love this. I love it too ... and I'm not a big fan of peanut butter. Jono says it tastes like caramel.