Over the Holidays I made mashed potatoes a couples of times for family get togethers (I used red, New Potatoes…my favorite variety). And so my kids have been asking for mashed potatoes quite often since. As much I do really loves potatoes, I know they are not the healthiest choice. Perhaps the most important thing to understand about potatoes is that they are a nightshade, and thus contain alkaloids which can impact nerve-muscle function and digestive function. Now I can attest to this first hand. Potatoes do not agree with me (for me, they cause digestive disruption and seem to exacerbate inflammation). If you follow the SCD, GAPS, or Paleo diet, you know that potatoes are not allowed. If you’re interested, you can read more about nightshades here. So I use celery root A LOT as a sub for potatoes. A while back I made Jill’s celery root fries, and LOVED them. And I’ve graduated to using celery root to replace mashed potatoes. And I have to say, it’s a very tasty alternative. One thing you will notice is celery root has a creamy, velvety texture. I just love this. Not as starchy as potatoes. So do my kids love celery root mash as much as mashed potatoes? My son loves it, but by daughter would rather have the massed taters (but my kids don’t get a choice, if they are not allergic to it, they have to eat it). I usually make roasted celery root mash with chicken and a lovely dairy free lemon garlic gravy, so it all works really well together and I get few objections. I highly recommend roasting the celery root as a way to impart a deep, rich favor in the dish. Enjoy!
Category Archives: Paleo
Roasted and Mashed Celery Root – A Healthy and Tasty Alternative to Traditional Mashed Potatoes (SCD, Dairy Free, Vegan, Paleo)
Happy Father’s Day Chocolate Tarts (grain free, dairy free, cane-sugar free, paleo))
Labels: cane sugar free, dairy free, dessert, gluten free, grain free, Paleo, summer treats.
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Baked Apple and Cranberry Crumble
- 1 pound of organic green or red apples, peeled and chopped (about 4). I weighed out the apples after peeling and slicing.
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoons fresh grapefruit juice, orange juice, or lemon
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoons cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
Topping - 1 cup room temperature ground almonds, or almond flour (I grind my own here at home. First in the food processor, then with a coffee grinder to created a finer flour)
- 3 tablespoons room temperature coconut oil
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- In an 8x8 glass Pyrex baking dish, mix together the apple cranberry filling
- In a separate bowl, with hands, mix ground almonds with the room temperature coconut oil. Break up the coconut oil as much as you can. Then sprinkle on top of apple cranberry filling. You could double this topping, but I had some ground almonds sitting on my counter, so bam, I used them.
- Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
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Sautéed Lemon Pepper Brussels Sprouts (SCD/ACD/Paleo Friendly)
-2 tablespoons oil of choice (I use grapeseed)
1. Add oil, leeks and salt to a large saute pan. Sauté on medium heat until wilted and soft (about 5 minutes).
2. Trim, slice and wash the Brussels. Add to leeks and sauté on medium heat.
3. When Brussels are slightly wilted turn off heat and add in lemon juice and mix. I like my Brussels with a bit of crunch (not mushy).
4. Serve warm or room temp (or cold). Garnish with fresh ground pepper.
Serves 4
Shared on: Cowgirl Up Mondays, Just Another Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Monday Mania, Ruth’s Real Food 101 (Mondays), Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Traditional Tuesdays, Fat Tuesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Real Food Wednesdays, Whole Food Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Full Plate Thursday, Pennywise Platter, It’s a Keeper Thursday, Freaky Friday, Wellness Weekend, Fresh Bites Fridays, Lunch Box Love Fridays, Fight Back Friday, Friday Food, Superfood Sunday, GFE April Virtual Support Group.
Pink Peppermint Vegan Ice Cream Sandwich for Valentine’s Day
- 1 cup whole raw hazelnuts
- ⅓ cup whole raw almonds
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup raw organic cacao
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 7 medjool dates (pitted and soaked in filtered water for at least 2 hours)
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon water
- Preheat oven to 375
- In food processor with s-blade, grind hazelnuts until coarse.
- Add almonds and blend until coarsely ground.
- Add coconut flour and coconut sugar, pulse, pulse, pulse. Add cacao, pulse, pulse, pulse.
- Add baking soda and salt, pulse, pulse, pulse.
- (the dry mixture should feel like a fine flour).
- Transfer dry ingredients to a bowl. Wipe out food processor.
- In food processor with s-blade, add strained dates, coconut oil, vanilla, water and blend until incorporated.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix (with hands).
- Roll out dough on non stick surface about ½ inch thick - make sure they aren't too thin. Make cutouts. Transfer to nonstick baking surface and bake for 10 - 12 minutes - or so, check at 10 minutes. Cookies will firm as they cool. Thisis a popular brand to use.
- 1 can coconut milk (I really love thisbrand for ice cream, also a BPA free can)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ of a cup sweetener (honey, coconut sugar, coconut nectar, maple syrup)
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- Red natural food coloring (to preferred pink color) HERE or HERE.
- Add coconut milk, vanilla, peppermint, sweetener, and coloring to blender and blend until incorporated, add to ice cream maker.
- Blend until thick and transfer ice cream to glass storage and place in freezer for a few hours.
- Remove from freezer about 20 minutes before serving.
Shared on: Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Traditional Tuesdays, Fat Tuesdays, Just Another Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Monday Mania, Ruth’s Real Food 101 (Mondays), Real Food Wednesdays, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Whole Food Wednesdays, Pennywise Platter, Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, Lunch Box Love Fridays, Wellness Weekend, Allergy-Friendly Friday, Freaky Friday, Fresh Bites Fridays & Recipe Lion
Raw Carrot Cake Cookies
Needless to say, I ate um’ all up in like 2 minutes…and of course wanted more, but at nearly $6.00 for a bag…no can do. So I kept the little bag, made note of the ingredients (only 5), and then started making my own. It took a while to find the right ratios, but I did it! And my homemade creation taste just like the store bought variety. So much more cost effective to make them. My kids eat these up like gangbusters. I made my family a batch with Valentine’s Day in mind and wanted to share them with you. Wishing you and yours a wonderful Valentine’s filled with love and laughter!
Double Chocolate Hazelnut Coconut Cookies
- -1 cup whole raw hazelnuts
- -1/3 cup whole raw almonds
- -1/4 cup coconut flour
- -1/4 cup raw organic cacao
- -1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- -1/8 teaspoon salt
- -6 dried medjool dates (pitted and soaked in filtered water for about 3-4 hours)
- -1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- -1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- -3 or 4 tablespoons honey
- Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (for the topping)
- Preheat oven to 375
- In food processor with s-blade, grind hazelnuts until coarse.
- Add almonds and blend until nuts release just a bit of oil.
- Add coconut flour, pulse. Add cacao, pulse.
- Add baking soda and salt, pulse, pulse, pulse.
- (the dry mixture should feel like a fine flour).
- Transfer dry ingredients to a bowl.
- In food processor with s-blade, add strained dates, coconut oil, vanilla, and honey and blend until incorporated.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix.
- Form small balls and press down into cookie shape
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- When cool, top cookies with melted chocolate chips.
Mint Chocolate Chip Coconut Ice Cream
My sweet husband celebrated his birthday on Sunday. When asked what he wanted for his birthday dessert he declared, “Oh, your pumpkin brownies! and mint chocolate chip ice cream.”
Done and done my love.
His all-time favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip. Our local Coop carries the coconut version and a few months ago I finally made my own batch. And I kick myself for waiting so long. It’s soooo easy to make and absolutely delicious.
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2½ teaspoons peppermint extract
- ⅓ cup grade B maple syrup or honey
- ½ cup shaved chocolate (any chocolate bar will do)
- Melted Enjoy Life chocolate chips makes a great chocolate drizzle
- Add coconut milk, vanilla, peppermint & maple syrup (or honey) to blender and blend until incorporated, add to ice cream maker.
- Check ice cream maker after about 15 minutes. When the mixture thickens up a bit and about to get super thick, add in chocolate shavings and continue mixing.
- Remove mixture from ice cream maker when a ball of ice cream forms
- Transfer ice cream to glass storage and place in freezer for a few hours
- Remove from freezer about 20 minutes before serving
- Melt remaining chocolate for drizzling when ready to serve
Cranberry Almond Honey Cookies
These cookies are a big deal for me because they are my first Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) cookie. And they are good…and they didn’t fall apart! I will be starting the SCD here shortly and until then I will be creating recipes for myself to eat during this adventure. My plan is to try the diet for 1 month. The SCD has shown to help folks like me who suffer from Crohn’s Disease (and other forms of IBD, Celiac & Autism). I was diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2004 and medication free up until a couple months ago. It’s hard for me to believe I just learned about the SCD like 2 months ago!! Geez, where have I been? Shirley over at gfe has been such a wonderful, loving support. Thank you Shirley! I’m sure I will be calling upon her for support and a pick-me-up here and there after I start this new food routine. I’m currently reading this book and I will be sharing what I’ve learned, and my new recipes here very soon.
- 1 cup dried cranberries, soaked in filtered water for about 2 hours (find unsweetened, or sweetened with only fruit juice, and always free of sulfur dioxide).
- 2 cups raw organic almonds (preferably soaked and dehydrated for optimal digestion)
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In food processor (fitted with S-blade) grind almonds until they release a bit of oil. Add coconut flour and blend into a light, fluffy flour. Add salt and baking soda. Blend.
- Strain cranberries and add to food processor and pulse, pulse, pulse, until the flour is incorporated with berries and forms a ball of dough.
- In separate bowl mix together melted oil, honey, and vanilla.
- With hands mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. To create cookie I recommend making a ball first, then with wet palms, press into little cookies.
- Bake 12-13 minutes. Take care to not overcook
Shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Traditional Tuesdays & Week 5 of Home for the Holidays: Gluten Free Style
Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies
Ingredients
-1/4 cup coconut flour
-2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
-1/2 teaspoon liquid stevia (vanilla or cocoa flavor is nice)
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 teaspoon ginger
Preheat oven to 375
In a food processor:
5. Blend, blend, blend, pulse, pulse, pulse
In a separate bowl:
5. You can either line the 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper or spray oil and dust with coconut flour. I used oil & flour.
6. Bake 30 minutes or until sides start to harden and crisp up
Notes
*The middle will be moist, but will firm up as it cools, but overall stays rather moist.
*I would wait several hours before cutting into the brownies (if you can) or wait until the next day (yeah right).
*Top with melted chocolate (I melted 1/2 of this chocolate bar with 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice)
Labels: chocolate, chocolate + pumpkin, dessert, egg free, grain free, Paleo, vegan.
That looks like real mashed potatoes Amber-wow! I am looking forward to trying this. I haven’t used celery root much. I also didn’t even know paprika was a nightshade. I always learn so much from you!
Thanks, Laura. This is by far one of my favorite side dishes. I hope you will give it a try one day. I know you and your family will love it.
I have never used celery root! Can’t wait to make this, thanks 🙂
I think you’ll really like it Cassidy. Let me know what you think. 🙂
Oh wow! I’m pretty excited by this celery root concept. I’ve recently gotten into rutabagas (mainly because the word “rutabaga” is so much fun to say out loud) and parsnips. I must try roasting up celery root now! And I can’t wait for that lemon garlic gravy! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Yes, that lemon garlic gravy is coming soon. Next week I will post it for sure. 🙂
I love the recommendation to roast it first. I bought some to make a mash, but haven’t made it just yet. This recipes comes just in time and I will try your method.
Roasting just imparts so much wonderful flavor. I hope you’ll give this a try. It’s so creamy and delicious.
Ps, I didn’t get a choice growing up either and I attribute that to my love of just about anything!
I love that, France. 🙂
this is so intriguing Amber! I have been avoiding potatoes recently but I miss my mashed potatoes so much! I will have to try this!
Give this one a try for sure Miss. Gabby..you will love it!
Dare I say that I have never eaten celery root. This looks and sounds amazing! Thanks for linking it up at Gluten Free Fridays!
Hi Cindy,
Well how fun to have a new food to try. 🙂