I thought I would post something not food-related.   Well sort of. It happened at a restaurant.   We were at this little Indian restaurant yesterday during lunch.  As usual they had a Bollywood movie showing on the big screen TV on the wall.  I love Bollywood!   Anyway, the guys were hot and the girls were all very pretty in their colorful and bright sarongs.  There was a time when I even tried one on, trying hard to be Indian LOL.  I saw the price tag and quickly took the sarong off. 

In the movie two guys were talking. One man was giving advice to another guy who was going through relationship problems.  He seemed sad and desperate for help.  The man told him that women are like buses. I snorted.  He said "women are like buses, when one passes by, another one is sure to come by."   The sad man just stared at him and shrugged his shoulders, then shook his head indicating that this lady friend of his was "no regular bus and no other bus will come by to replace her."    The man giving advice continued : "more buses will pass by you but only one can take you home.  You must never miss that bus."   At that, the man seeking wisdom looked down, knowing that he has "missed the bus" and must figure out a way to find that bus again.

I don't know why I'm sharing this but I just thought that perhaps someone will benefit from this. It's so true!  I was touched, though it sounded corny and sappy, by the truth of that advice.

Paleo Irish Soda Bread

Ever since we went paleo a year and half ago, we haven't had any Irish soda bread.  My husband is of Irish descent and this was one of those things that I made that he truly enjoyed. We used to be just gluten and dairy-free so I would make the soda bread with millet and sorghum flours.   I'm so glad we can have soda bread again! I adapted this from Elana's Pantry's Irish soda bread recipe.

2 and 3/4 cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ cup raisins
2 eggs
2 tablespoons raw honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar(or you can also use lemon)


Mix all the wet ingredients separately in a bowl.  Mix the dry ingredients separately in a bowl as well.  Then mix both.   Form into a dough and put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Please see picture above, it's about 8 inches sideways and about an inch and a half of height.   Score the dough with a sharp knife.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, turn off the stove and let it sit in there for another 10 minutes. Take it out and cool it on a rack for half an hour before serving.  It tastes great by itself but my 4 year old loves it with apricot jam.

 Snickerdoodles

I wanted to make it paleo but I didn't have coconut sugar or date sugar at home. So I just used organic cane sugar, just this time. 

This was based on Jamie Oliver's recipe with a little exception.  I don't like stuff that's overly sweet so I used less sugar.  I also made it dairy-free.

3/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla
a dash of sea salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup Spectrum Shortening

Sugar/cinnamon for rolling the cookies:

1 tbsp sugar
Some cinnamon, I didn't measure

Mix eggs, vanilla, sugar, eggs and Spectrum shortening.  Add the coconut flour and make sure to remove all lumps.  Mix well. Set aside for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Make dough into small balls, roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture, and flatten on the baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Enjoy!  They're so delicious!

Nibmor chocolate review

Who doesn't want chocolate? I don't know anyone who doesn't.  Anyway, hubby was browsing at our Whole Foods and found this chocolate and bought it for me. I had to share my thoughts about it.  It's not exactly paleo or GAPS-friendly due to the fact that it has agave nectar, but I was willing to try it.  It has a different taste, a slightly different feel and texture. It's softer than regular chocolate. I like that it has 65% cacao and it's been crafted at low temperatures to minimize the loss of nutrients and flavonoids.  It's also non-GMO which is a huge deal for me.

There are several flavors but I prefer the plain one.  At 3.99 a bar it costs more than regular store-bought chocolate but it's worth it.

I like this chocolate and I will continue to buy it!

Paleo Coconut pineapple muffins

I realized I have a lot of coconut flour left and some leftover pineapple that has to be consumed ASAP.  This recipe is really easy, paleo and GAPS-friendly as well.

I need to add more pineapple next time!

1/4 cup sifted coconut flour
3 pastured eggs
1/4 tsp gluten-free vanilla
a dash of celtic salt
Bits and pieces of pineapple(I'm not sure how much I used, sorry)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp melted Spectrum shortening or real butter if you can handle it.
2 tbsp raw honey

Mix eggs, honey, Spectrum shortening, salt and baking soda.  Then add the remaining ingredients. Make sure to remove clumps.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. Makes about 6-7 muffins.

Note: I've made this with nuts and blueberries. Just substitute for the pineapple and add nuts, berries or whatever you want. Enjoy

Craving for Chocolate

I've been craving for chocolate and just happened to have some Enjoy Life chocolate baking chips at home.  So this is my really simple, easy creation.  Just 1 cup of dark chocolate chips and 1 tbsp virgin coconut oil melted and mixed together and poured in a mold.  You can even use this concoction to dip fruits in.  Kind of like a fondue.  You can add nuts, shredded coconut....go wild with it!

Put them in the freezer for 15 minutes or til it gets hard. Then enjoy!

Soaked and Sprouted Red lentil soup

This is just a basic red lentil soup that can be an addition to a meal.  I like to soak and sprout lentils but feel free to omit this part.  The soaking/sprouting part took about 3 days!  Just prepare however you prepare your lentils.  Sorry I didn't get a picture of this.

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils, soaked and sprouted
Black pepper
Thyme
Sea salt
A few slices of bacon(fried) and cut into pieces
Water

In a pot, add the lentils then water just enough to cover it. Bring to a boil. Add the spices except for sea salt.  Boil for a few minutes then cover simmer til lentils are cooked.   Add the salt and bacon pieces after the lentils are cooked.