This Holiday I made several batches of spiced cashews as gifts for family and friends. To round out the goodie bag, I added a homemade candle and some chocolate bars. So fun and easy. I happen to adore receiving homemade gifts – I actually prefer it to store bought items. I wanted to share my simple spiced cashew recipe with you today. The combination of spices are endless really, but I like the combo of sweet and spicy. Continue reading
Category Archives: Paleo





Roasted Turkey with Garlic, Thyme, and Lemon w/ Paleo Gravy
I’ve been hosting Thanksgiving dinner for several years. Because I enjoy cooking and can plan and multitask like no one’s business, Thanksgiving is totally doable for me. And I love that I can make it all gluten, dairy, and cane-sugar free, and everyone always, every year, raves about the food. They can’t tell my stuffing is gluten free, or that the sweet potatoes aren’t swimming in cane-sugar, or the gravy is Paleo (gasp)! So when I started hosting the thought of roasting an entire turkey was completely unappealing. I mean, yes, it looks lovely, but it takes so long and it just made more sense (to me) to buy turkey parts and roast them to their appropriate doneness (as we all know, white meat cooks differently than dark meat). I’ve also noticed that turkey legs are really popular and I like having more than two available. I’ve really enjoyed preparing turkey this way and my guests seem to enjoy it as well. Perfectly moist breast meat and perfectly moist dark meat?! Yes please. I wanted to share my method with you in case you were feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole bird. By the way, brining turkey is a necessary step to that delicious, moist meat…so don’t skip it! Gobble-gobble. Continue reading





Grain-Free “Corn” Dog Bites
I am on a never ending mission to make new and fun snacks and lunches for my kiddos. It makes me happy to fill their lunch bags every morning with nutritious whole food that I feel good about. My kids LOVE corn dogs, as do I. I recently saw a new product pop up in the frozen food isle. They are these little mini corn dogs – they are round and gluten free (the coating is mostly corn). I bought some to try. They were good, but the coating was really hard, but I loved how they were bite size! And do you know what else is bite size?….MINI MUFFINS. So I created a very basic almond flour batter as the “corn” and used our favorite grass fed beef dogs to make a fun little snack that isn’t deep fried, isn’t on a sick, but mimics the flavor and essence of a corn dog. My kids gave them a rousing thumbs up, so yay! Another fun idea for their lunch boxes.





Grain-Free Apple Cinnamon Mini Muffins
I wanted to make a fall-inspired snack for my kiddos this week…and they LOVE apple cinnamon anything, so some yummy apple cinnamon mini muffins fit the bill. I find that mini muffins are perfect for snack time – they are easy to pack and easy to eat. I prefer to make muffins with almond flour, as one cup of almond flour has 20 grams of protein! I love that my kiddos are getting a good protein surge for their morning snack (not to mention all those good fats) to hold them over until lunch. I’m excited about more apple recipes in the coming weeks, especially this one from Ricki Heller. I hope everyone is having a great fall so far. I’ve got my Halloween costume all set and ready to party. Woot-woot. Continue reading
Labels: fall treats, grain free, holidays, muffins, Paleo, snacks, thanksgiving desserts.
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Perfectly Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Fall where are you! It’s hitting the mid 90’s again this coming week (insert big eye roll here). I am yearning to wear my sweaters and boots! Soon…soon. Around these parts it starts to really feel like fall at end of October, early November, so we have a few weeks yet. But this hot weather is not stopping me from making some yummy fall inspired food. I made some absolutely out-of-this-world delicious whipped sweet potatoes on Saturday night for dinner. Seriously tasted like dessert. SO GOOD. My kids loved it! My daughter said, “Mommy, what’s in here…it tastes like pie.” I made the sweet potatoes with this pork dish (sans the applesauce) that is so easy and always a hit and the two went together like gangbustas. Anyway, if you are looking for a new way to eat sweet potatoes, try whipping them up. I am totally going to make these whipped sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving and I’m so excited about it! They are seriously delicious. Look out fall…I’m coming for ya. Continue reading
Labels: ACD, AIP, GAPS, holidays, Paleo, sides, Thanksgiving, thanksgiving side dishes, vegan, vegetarian, winter cuisine.
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Almond Flour Blueberry Mini Muffins
Last year I finally bought myself a mini muffin pan…and I love it! I try to keep snack time creative and healthy for the kiddos and mini muffins were a perfect new addition. I love using almond flour for the muffins, as they are packed with protein. Any flavor combo is possible and I adore that they are easy to make, easy to pack, and easy to eat. Today I am sharing blueberry, as blueberries are in season and such a delightful little berry. I also use cherry, strawberry, or raspberry or any combo of each. The kids also love banana chocolate chip, which I will share soon. Have you ever made mini muffins? I am addicted! Continue reading
Labels: grain free, kids, muffins, Paleo, snacks, summer cuisine, summer treats.
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5 -Ingredient Chocolate Free & Sugar Free Frosting
My son turned 5 years old yesterday! My kids are starting to look VERY BIG to me these days. I’m loving the independence each year brings, but I would love to hold them each again as a baby (until they start crying and pooping – the fantasy ends there). The teenage years will be here before we know it so I am ever reminding myself to treasure small moments and not let the silly stuff feel so big. Continue reading





Grain Free Cashew Thumb Print Cookies
Okay, these aren’t really thumb prints I guess, more like heel prints (ha ha). I like lots of filling in my cookies so I make the dips bigger than your typical thumb print width. So these cookies were inspired by a new paleo cookie that has arrived at my local natural foods coop (created by a local bakery called Sugar Plum Vegan). The ingredients: super simple. The price: OUCH! One cookie costs $4 – I’m not kidding. That’s a bit outrageous, especially since these cookies are very easy to make with some very basic paleo ingredients. I bought one to taste test (and I really liked it) so took note of the ingredients and made my own batch the next day. My recipe contains an egg because I like to use egg as a binder and like the way it tastes with the cashews (vegan option in notes). The flavor is truly spot on. I could not justify buying another $4 cookie when I literally had everything at home to make a big batch. These are my family’s new favorite treat. I try to make 2 or 3 homemade snacks each week for the kiddos to decrease my dependence on packaged food (especially packaged snacks). And these are super easy to make and low in the sugar department (which is always a plus). Continue reading





Honey Kissed Mint Watermelon Salad
It’s warming up here in these parts. A heat wave is moving through right now and pushing temps into the 90s. Therefore cool, refreshing dishes are in demand. It will drop back down to cooler temps next week, and let’s hope May is nice and mild. May is usually our last month of decent weather before the searing summer heat blankets our region. But it’s all good. I love the summer and I’m no stranger to hot, dry heat. As a child I grew up in the desert near Death Valley (in Southern California) – so bring it on. I was at Costco the other day and found organic, fair-trade mini seedless watermelons. Awesome-sauce! They are super delicious and so sweet. I’m thinking this would be a great dish for any summer gathering.





Raw Pepperminty Nutty-Roons
I shared this recipe last month with Ricki on her blog: Ricki Heller. I found Ricki’s blog shorty after I started blogging (about 2 1/2 years ago). I distinctly remember visiting Wellness Weekend for the first time to share a recipe and instantly fell in love with Ricki, her writing style, and (of course) her recipes (of which I’ve made many)! Personally, I suffer from candida, so her blog is of great interest and value to me. I reference it constantly and refer friends and family to her site. Ricki’s cookbook Naturally Sweet and Gluten Free is one of my favorite cookbooks with so many healthy treats for my family. For the guest post I wanted to share a recipe for Ricki’s readers reminiscent of her cooking style with common ingredients used by Ricki herself. I call these “Nutty-Roons” because they are like a macaroon, but with a nice nutty bite to them. Made with only a few simple ingredients, these raw little bites of coconut bliss are sure to please. I made about 10 batches of these as Holidays gifts last year (I kid you not) and they were well received by all. I hope you enjoy them too. You can view my guest post here.
- 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- ⅔ cup raw walnuts
- ⅓ cup raw cashews
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup, honey, or coconut nectar
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoons peppermint flavor (or more to your preference)
- 5 drops liquid stevia (plain or flavored)
- In a food processor fitted with the S blade, add in the walnuts and cashews and blend for 20 seconds.
- Next add in the shredded coconut and blend with the nuts for another 20 seconds.
- In a small cup, mix together the maple syrup, stevia, vanilla extract, and peppermint oil.
- With the food processor running, pour in the coconut oil and the maple syrup mixture.
- Blend for 10 seconds.
- Scoop out mounds of the mixture and create little macaroon shapes (I use a small ice cream scooper).
- The mixture makes about 15 nutty-roons. Place them in freezer for ½ hour.
- While the nutty-roons are in the freezer, melt some chocolate*. I like to use a 1 cup glass Pyrex, placed in a pot of boiling water. This keeps the chocolate raw and melts nicely.
- Remove the nutty-roons from the freezer and dip each into the chocolate.
- Store the nutty-roons in the fridge. They hold up well at room temperature too, but I like how they taste cold.
2. You could also make your own chocolate (see recipe below).
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons coconut nectar, honey, or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon raw ground cacao
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract -Optional: a few drops of stevia
- Place the above ingredients into a 1 cup glass Pyrex.
- Place the glass Pyrex into a pan of very hot water and mix around until everything is melted. Do not heat over 110 degree
This recipe was shared on: Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Raw Foods Thursday, Plant Based Potluck Party, Savoring Saturdays
Labels: chocolate, dessert, grain free desserts, guest post, low glycemic, Paleo, raw.
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Lol! I don’t know how many times we will do it, but our minds are so linked…I have a recipe to post on roasted cashews with the sweet/savory thing going on too….but I use fresh rosemary and cayenne! I bet these are scrumpdiliumptious! Will try your variation!
Ha ha! Well, that does not surprise me at all my friend. Only the internet can bring such like minded people together. 🙂 Can’t wait for your recipe. Happy New Year!! xo