Chocolate Cheesecake

14 years ago today I met and fell in love with my very best friend. 14 years, 2 cats, 3 kids, and a whole lot of learning about our health later....

Here we are. Healthier and definitely happier.

I wanted to make a special treat to celebrate which honestly I don't do very often. This past weekend we had. Get together with our closest friends from college (and all their kids too) and we had the Chocolate Decadence Cake from Lexie's Kitchen. It was great but I wanted to do something different.

Enter the Dark Chocolate Cheesecake by Swisspaleo. I didn't have dates for the crust and I didn't want to make a huge cake so I had some work to do.

First, I had to figure out a crust. I decided to use the cashew crust from the pumpkin pie recipe and looking back it might have been awesome to add some cocoa power and a bit more syrup to make it chocolate. Next time I will do that for sure!

Next I had to figure out how much filling to make because we don't NEED a whole cake...although I could certainly eat it all. It's chocolate .... 'Nuff said. I decided on half the recipe which made 10 tiny cheesecakes.

Tiny cheesecakes? Yes, tiny, muffin cup size cheesecakes. I did this because I don't own a springform pan and the silicone molds would peel nicely off the tiny treats. I'm drooling just thinking about them!

Chocolate Cheesecake Bites
Prepare the cashew crust and place in muffin cups.
Bake at 300 for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool.

Chocolate Cheesecake Filling
1 cup cashews
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup water
5 tsp lemon juice
1/3+ cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
Pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp and 2 tsp coconut butter
2tbsp coconut oil

Put the cashews, syrup, and water in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Add the cocoa powder, lemon juice, and salt. Blend again!
Add the coconut butter and coconut oil and ... You guessed it...blend again.

Without licking the spoon (I dare you!), spoon filling into each cup. It's thick and I recommend wetting the spoon. Place in the fridge for a few hours and try not to eat them. I double dare you.

Pasta Primavera - Paleo Style!

Okay, so I fibbed slightly and there's no pasta in this recipe ... Or Alfredo sauce ... But in my defense this tastes so good you won't notice there's no pasta.

First we need to cut up some veggies.
-carrots, peeled and sliced in rounds
-Brussels sprouts, quartered
-broccoli
-squash
-onions

Chop those up and toss in a pan with some olive oil and sauté. My husband likes to make the veggies pretty squishy ... I have a feeling they've lost all nutritional value by this time but if he's cooking and I get a break ...

Next up let's do some garlic sauce. Jamie shared her recipe with me and it's been modified slightly based on what we've come to love.

Garlic Sauce - modified
-3 heaping half tablespoons of minced garlic (we use a half tbsp because we don't have a full tablespoon. Actually I just realized the half tbsp is now missing)
-1 15oz can of full fat coconut milk
-1tsp sea salt
-pinch of black pepper
-1 tap basil
-1 tsp dill weed

Sauté the garlic until aromatic but careful it doesn't burn!
Add the milk and seasonings, stir.
Put on low and let it summer while you finish cooking your meal, stirring occasionally.

We have tried a lot of canned coconut milk and the 365 brand from Whole Foods is by far the best. The sauce comes out very creamy. Other brands come out thinner with a tan color but still taste great.


Top your veggies with it and enjoy! I seriously take a spoon to the table with me.

Even the cats like it!

The First Food Elimination

The hardest food elimination is the first one..... And the one you crave the most.... And the one that's most convenient to cook on a busy evening.

Who am I kidding? They're all hard in their own way!

But when it's for your baby it's worth it.

My first elimination was dairy in October 2008. Now, I am a self proclaimed cheesaholic so this elimination was frought with despair. I chose this path in hopes of stopping the constant ear infections my 18 month old daughter was experiencing, even though my pediatrician said I was crazy and there was no correlation. The naturopath I was seeing at the time agreed with my decision to eliminate dairy and set me up with a nutrition plan to do that and also to lose weight (40lbs in 4 months!).

My daughter was 18 months when I started this journey and it took a few weeks until I "got it". You see, even though. I knew dairy was an issue I didn't WANT to believe it was. One evening early in this elimination process we had my inlaws over for dinner and ordered in from Chilis. Not wanting to miss out on the nachos (cheesy cheesy nachos) my husband had ordered and still in denial based on my WANT for it not to be a real problem I "enjoyed" some nachos. My, were they tasty with all their cheesy goodness.

48 hours later my daughter had a raging double ear infection and the guilt I felt was astounding. I did this. This is MY fault. Was it REALLY worth the few minutes of cheesy delight? Seeing my daughter in so much pain because I couldn't resist the cheese-demons cut me to the core. My heart ached with regret and sadness that I had been selfish to the point that caused so much pain for my child. It had finally hit home that dairy was the enemy, needed to be eradicated from my life and thus .... Au Revoir le fromage. Good bye old friend, I shall miss our interesting culinary adventures.

It wasn't evident to me at the time, but it is now. You can see the dark circles under her eyes which is a telling symptom of a food allergy. Her complexion is pale as well. Her belly, which isn't pictured, is bloated and since birth she's had breasts. Once dairy was removed the breast tissue went away. Two years later when we finally went gluten free her bloated, pregnant belly disappeared. "Is This Your Child?" Is an excellent environmental and food allergy resource. http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Child-Doris-Rapp/dp/0688119077

One additional incident with dairy consumption furthered my drive to keep her safe. In January we went to my inlaws for dinner. We had mashed potatoes (is it odd I remember nothing else from this meal?), and they were delicious. My MIL used chicken broth in the potatoes for mashing and adding moisture which makes them out of this world. Not exactly butter and sour cream out of this world but fantastic in a dairy free sort of way. Anyways, upon returning home from a meal where my daughter and I both consumed a fair amount of these delicious starch mountains my MIL called to say that while washing the cans she realized the broth contained milk and she's SO sorry she didn't check. Yes, we were sorry too that she didn't check and we were trusting that she had. This brought us another raging double ear infection, fever, vomiting, and a ruptured ear drum.

This is the "whey" dairy hurt my baby. My resolve to keep her safe strengthened at the time and I became somewhat of a control freak with food.

Our daycare was very good about it, for the most part...but they didn't convey the information to the woman who subbed as my daughters teacher. Even though the room had signs everywhere saying my child couldn't have dairy she was still given a bowl of pudding one day! What happened? You guessed it - ear infection, vomiting....and it was so bad after a bowl of pudding that we ended up at the children's hospital because we couldn't get her to stop and she became dehydrated. From pudding. Yes it's really that important to avoid an allergy all costs.

For what it's worth my daughter had never had a skin reaction to food. Her stools as a breastfeeding infant were textbook normal and allergy testing had ALWAYS come back negative for dairy. Obviously though, it's a bad choice for her body. I fired my pediatrician because he told me I was nuts (more or less). I beg to differ, but if eating x food leads to vomiting and illness I'm going to avoid that food.

My husband was not dairy free but he did agree to not have dairy at home. It wasn't fair to us to see him have cheese when we couldn't and besides those cheese demons are so strong....it's not enough to be dairy free. You have to really eliminate it from your house 100% so you don't cave to the pressure. The cheese speaks to you, it taunts you, and it beckons you to come closer. DO NOT EAT THE CHEESE!
          
A note added by Jamie;
"The momentary "high" and pleasure you get when you cave to the temptation to eat the cheese is not worth the nuclear level fallout after consumption. No amount of enjoyment and pleasure from a food of ANY kind is worth seeing your child tortured and torn apart from the inside out. Dairy free seems simple to me now. At first it was Mt Everest and I was climbing in off season with no guide and a storm brewing. I made it to that summit. I pushed past the addiction and the happy feelings dairy brings, and I did it with zero regrets. We all say we'd die for our children, but are we willing to let the part of ourselves that is hurting them die? In the climb you find a passion for a healthy life. You realize Mt Everest was no taller than the dirt fort in your backyard as a kid.

People tell me all the time "I wouldn't survive without ______" usually dairy, or gluten. Those are the two hardest to give up because they speak directly to the happy spot in your brain. They deceive you into feeling warm, safe and happy. When you're smack dab in the middle of the withdrawal from these things, you may honestly think you're going to die. But on the other side, you realize that you weren't truly living before. You begin to understand what all those healthnuts have been saying. Feeling healthy is worth far more than the drug like high created by dairy. After a while, the very thought of eating it makes you shudder."

"The Gluten/Casein Peptides Test can determine the inability to digest wheat, rye, barley, and milk. These undigested proteins, called peptides, are associated with gastrointestinal, neurological, and neuro-developmental disorders.

Urinary peptides are incompletely broken down pieces of protein. The peptides from gluten and casein can react with opiate receptors in the brain, thus mimicking the effects of opiate drugs like heroin and morphine. These compounds, called neuropeptides, have been shown to react with areas of the brain's temporal lobes that are involved in speech and auditory integration. Neuropeptides also decrease the ability to feel pain and effect cognitive function.

Most people who have food allergies to milk and wheat also have problems with peptides from these foods interacting with their brain and causing an opiate-like effect. However, some individuals may not show a food allergy to milk or wheat, but have the peptide problem and vice versa. Because of this, we recommend the Gluten/Casein Peptides Test be taken in addition to our food allergy testing." http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/home/eng/peptide.asp

Dairy is also an opiate like drug -- http://home.iae.nl/users/lightnet/health/dairyfoodaddiction.htm

This is my baby girl now, 4 years dairy free. Since the we've also eliminated eggs, soy, corn, wheat and then all gluten, grains.

~Stacey

"BB&B"- Brussel Sprouts, Beets and Bacon

I love beets. I love eating beets and how I feel after I've eaten them. Beets make me feel whole and healthy.
Beets carry a near exclusive phyto nutrient, glycine betaine and help your body remove some specific toxins from your blood stream.

 So yes, I really like how I feel when we eat beets, and since my local grocer had some beauties this week, I jumped right in. Next to the beets was a beautiful bin of fresh brussel sprouts, one of my favorite companions for beets!! AHhhh Spring is near!

"BB&B"

Ingredients;
3-4 small to medium sized fresh beets
1lb fresh brussel sprouts
4 slices bacon, diced
1/4 cup quality balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder, or one clove minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of cayenne pepper *optional

small glob of coconut oil

First off you'll need to prepare the beets. Cut the greens off an inch or two from where they meet the root. Gently place the beets in a glass baking dish and put them in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour. Remove them and set them aside to cool until you're ready to cook the rest of your meal.

Next, take the diced bacon and get it cooking in a med-hot skillet so it renders and gets crispy around the edges. Now I realize that a picture of sizzling bacon is not necessary here, but really, who doesn't love bacon?
                                                               MMMmmmm Bacon...

Quarter the brussel sprouts while the bacon is cooking, when the bacon is just right, add them to your skillet. At this point I put in a spoonful of coconut oil just for good measure, and because my sprouts soaked up the rendered bacon fat. I seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Then just let them sautee until the sprouts are nicely browned and as tender as you'd like.

                                           One peeled beet with whole and quartered sprouts

While the sprouts are cooking, you'll need to peel the beets. Slice off both the top and bottom of the beets and use a knife to remove the peel. If they're roasted well this is very easy. After the peels are removed, dice them into small chunks.

When the brussel sprouts are as tender as you'd like, add the beets to the pan and stir. Add the balsamic vinegar and allow it to sizzle and heat through. You don't want the beets back on the heat more than to reheat them, so wait until the end.

Voila! This is the only way I can get my husband to eat brussel sprouts thus far. This also works soaking the beet greens and some swiss chard and using those instead of the brussel sprouts. I've done it with broccoli. The bacon is optional obviously if you want vegan, otherwise the bacon is NOT optional.

We had our "BB&B" with simple herb seasoned chicken legs, cooked in a skillet on top of the stove. Since hubby decided to have a glass of wine last night, we added a splash of Sweet Red wine to the pan. He also wanted "sauce" and proceeded to make our replacement for Ranch Dressing. It tastes nothing like Ranch Dressing, but its delicious. Its Safflower Mayo, a dash of almond milk, some dried Dill Weed and Cayenne pepper whisked together. Originally formed as a sauce for fish tacos.
~Jamie

My Laundry Solution

I know this is mainly a food blog but I really like my laundry system and I want to share it.

With three girls all the clothes look the same to my husband. He can tell what belongs to the baby because of its size but figuring out what belongs to our five year old and our three year old is a bit more tricky. They even wear the same size underwear!

I also felt I was spending too much time sorting clothes for the two girls in order to put it away in the right place. With my laundry system I've negated the separation between child step and can focus on the separation of pants vs shirts, etc.

And they each have a dedicated laundry day so the basket doesn't get overfull.

And then there were the socks! The dreaded sock monsters in the laundry room kept stealing the kids socks and rather than face bankruptcy buying socks I figured I should come up with a new system.

So here it is. I bought three square laundry baskets from Target, a package of 3 lingerie bags, 1 yard sew on velcro, 1 yard sticky back Velcro, and found 3 coordinated but different ribbons.

First I threaded the ribbon through the holes in the basket, securing the ends with hot glue. This labeled each basket so even non-readers could identify which basket belonged to them.

Next I put 12 inches of sticky back Velcro along one edge of each basket. I chose to put the hook side (the rough part) since the sew on side would be on the lingerie bag and go into the wash. I didn't want the clothes getting snagged.

Next I sewed 12 inches of loop to each lingerie bag with a piece of ribbon to match the baskets. Now the bags are labeled in the same way as the baskets and even my husband can discern whose socks are whose!

The way I put the bags in the baskets keeps the bag open so the girls can toss their socks in easily. This doesn't always work for my fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants 3 year old but my 5 year old understands the concept.

~Stacey

Pumpkin Pie

Yes it's possible without dairy, eggs, sugar, and gluten. I swear!

This is by far my favorite dessert (aside from cheesecake). In fact I distinctly remember making one during my first pregnancy and eating the entire thing over two days. My husband isn't a fan of pumpkin so what was a pumpkin loving pregnant gal to do?

Eat it of course!

With my first two eliminations (dairy and eggs) it looked as though pumpkin pie was a no go since its traditionally made with eggs and condensed sweetened milk. I've tried a flax version and it came out kind of gooey so I honestly haven't had pie I years. So sad.

I came across The Spunky Coconuts chai Pumpkin bars and in reeding the comments I saw that someone had used unflavored gelatin. What a great idea! I still never embarked on the quest as I didn't have a suitable crust and couldn't use the crust in the original recipe.

I was inspired this past Thanksgiving, hungry for our and pregnant again. A friend has made the pumpkin chai bars and said if the chai part was omitted it would make a great pumpkin pie....which got me thinking...

So here is my version of Pumpkin Pie.

Crust ingredients:
3/4 cup cashew meal
2 tbsp coconut oil cut into pieces
1 tbsp grade B maple syrup
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
Grease your preferred pan with coconut oil (unless you use a silicone mold in which case you can peel it off later).
Mix all ingredients until you have a dough ball formed.
Press into your preferred pan and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes. It will look weird, bubbly, and gooey. I promise it will solidify after cooling and be well worth those nerve wracking moments when you're just not sure about the recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Filling
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup grade b maple syrup
1 packet Knox unflavored gelatin
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Place your coconut milk in gelatin in a sauce pan and heat gently, stirring until the gelatin is dissolved.
Add all remaining ingredients and stir well.

Fill your crust laden pan with filling and pop it all into the refrigerator and walk away. Give it at least an hour before you go poking it, if you can wait that long.

This is best served right out of the refrigerator as the coconut oil keeps the crust solid.

~Stacey

Chicken Fried Steak? Paleo? Oh Yes, I did.

I'm a Southern girl, born and raised in the heart of the Texas Panhandle. That in and of itself is a unique type of Southern I assure you.

As a child, when we got the chance to eat out, 85% of the time we all ordered Chicken Fried Steak, or Chicken Strips. Well, except for dad. He'd break occasionally and get a real steak, or mom would make us try her chicken fried Liver. It came to you piping hot, crispy, with more breading than meat. Piled on top of a piece of Texas Toast and absolutely smothered in rich, cream gravy. As a side my favorite was battered and deep fried corn, and french fries smothered in that same delectable gravy. I looked for an accurate picture to show you what it looked like, but they all have the audacity of not enough gravy and the nerve to include green beans or broccoli. I am astonished. Instead, here is MY Chicken Fried Steak, which we had for lunch today.

If you've read any of our posts here, you know that in no way, shape or form is a Chicken Fried Steak possible. Or is it?

My friends, anything is possible.

At the grocery store on Monday I picked up some cube steaks that were on sale. Cube steaks are the traditional medium for Chicken Fried Steak, and rare for us because they are rather expensive. Generally if I'm going to spend $6/lb for meat it's a Ribeye or T-Bone on sale. This package however was a very low price, so I snatched it.

So here I've been starting at these beautiful cube steak strips, not enough for a full dinner meal, but a passable lunch. The last few months since I've been pregnant I've been eating grains again so I figured I'd just use rice flour and make the breading and gravy that way. Which works, and is delicious. But yesterday I realized that altho my blood pressure is still good and well within normal limits, its 25pts higher than it was grain free. Grumble grumble grumble. I'm back off grains as of today. But I want a Chicken Fried Steak!

Enter coconut flour. Of course! Coconut flour!

Paleo Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy

Ingredients
Cube steaks, or a cut of steak you've tenderized yourself with a meat hammer (that can be fun)
1 large head cauliflower
1-2 cups almond milk (or coconut of course)
1 egg beaten *optional
1 cup coconut flour
salt
pepper
garlic powder
cayenne pepper *optional

one large-ish glob of coconut oil

Chop the head of cauliflower, and place it in a sauce pan. Pour in some almond milk, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let this cook just like you would to steam it, over a medium-medium low heat until its tender.

 

Meanwhile, preheat a large non-stick or cast iron skillet to a medium high heat.

In a dish of your choice put the coconut flour, and season it somewhat generously with salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne pepper

Use a different dish to beat the egg. Dip your cube steak into the egg, and then into the coconut flour mixture. Press the "breading" into the meat so it sticks in the little crevices.

Put your large glob of coconut oil in the skillet and let it melt, then gently add your meat. You want it to sizzle, but not smoke, foam or get really loud. If its too loud or pops, turn the fire down a bit.
make sure to flip it gently about half way through cooking, to brown on both sides. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of your meat. My strips took 10-12 minutes total.

Once your strips are nicely browned on both sides, remove them and let them rest.

Take out your blender or food processor, pour in the cauliflower including the liquid, and blend until its well pureed. I used the processor bowl of my Ninja, and it works very nicely.

Here you have it, Southern style Chicken Fried Steak.

Is it the same as I remember? No. But it's full of flavor, it has real nutrition, and after eating it I do not feel over full or heavy. And who doesn't love the added bonus of a vegetable as cream gravy? I may finish off the gravy with a spoon. With zero "ick" factor and zero guilt.

~Jamie