paleo Archives - Page 20 of 22 - A Calculated Whisk

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (Gluten free, Paleo)

August 31, 2013 By Becky 28 Comments

These grain-free double chocolate zucchini muffins strike the perfect balance between healthy and indulgent eating.

It’s strange not to be getting a classroom set up this time of year. To get my classroom layout fix, I went to help my friend set up her room. She’ll be teaching kindergarten, and her space is amazing! Her classroom has its own coatroom with a full length cubby for each kid, plus a bathroom. The room has lots of windows on two sides, tons of built-in storage, and TWO sinks at the back–one kid height and one regular. On top of all that, the building is air conditioned! In six years of teaching, I definitely never had it that good.

Anyway, I wanted to bring something for me and my friend to snack on while we set up her classroom, and since I was going there mid-morning, I decided double chocolate zucchini muffins would be just the thing. I went with double chocolate muffins because what I really wanted was to make cupcakes. These are the perfect happy medium, and I snuck in a zucchini to make them extra moist and even more healthy.

A weird thing happened with these muffins. Let me know if you have any insights about this muffin mystery: when I tried a warm muffin before leaving the house, some of the muffin stuck to the paper liner. Not a ton, but a fair amount. I then wrapped some muffins in tinfoil to bring with me, but left the top of the tinfoil open since the muffins were still warm. At my friend’s school, the papers peeled off the muffins with virtually no crumbs attached–completely clean. The next morning, I expected the muffins I had left at home to do the same thing, since I assumed it was from cooling completely. But no! Crumb stuck on the liner again. So–did wrapping the bottoms of my muffins in tinfoil while they were still warm make the papers come off with no crumbs? If so, I might have to try that trick every time I make muffins or cupcakes! Any thoughts?

Anyway, on to the recipe. I hope these double chocolate zucchini muffins will help you strike the perfect breakfast balance.

If you’re looking for more amazing paleo muffins, check out the Papaya Pecan Muffins in my cookbook Paleo Planet. They’re on page 231!

Cherry Blondies & Homemade Almond Butter (Paleo, Gluten free)

August 29, 2013 By Becky 7 Comments

These are so good! Elana of Elana’s Pantry is a total genius, because she figured out that almond butter, eggs, and honey will magically bake up into BLONDIES. Yes! Fudgy, delicious blondies. When you read the recipe, you’ll think there must be a mistake. I am here to tell you there isn’t! Almonds prove themselves here once again as a miracle food. I promise you will love these. You don’t even have to add cherries; you can just make them without for regular blondies. And don’t worry about the almond extract. I was trying to play up the almond flavor a little, but it didn’t really come through. So you could leave it out, leave it in, or even try a full teaspoon if you want that little hint of marzipan flavor.

Dutch Babies Brûlée (Paleo, Gluten free)

August 27, 2013 By Becky 6 Comments

It’s almost time for me to go back to school! This isn’t just any back-to-school, though, because after six years of leading my own classroom, I’m starting as a student again, working on a master’s in speech and language pathology. I have orientation next week, and classes start the week after that. Then, in October, I’ll start working with my very first client. It’s going to be different, and I’m relishing my last week of sleeping in and making myself (and Ben, on the days he works from home) a nice breakfast.

Brownie Batter Truffles (Gluten free, Paleo)

August 25, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

Yesterday I wanted brownies, but the thought of waiting for them to bake and then cool was disagreeable. I thought about making brownie batter truffles instead. Since there’s no egg in this recipe, you can taste as you’re making it and adjust the sweetness as desired. If you’re in a really big hurry, you can skip melting the chocolate and roll these in cocoa powder or shredded coconut. You can get your brownie fix on pretty fast.

Crepes with Cherry Orange Syrup (Paleo, Gluten free)

August 24, 2013 By Becky 4 Comments

On weekend mornings, I like to start the day with something a little bit special. Eggs are great, but what I really want on a lazy Saturday morning is something sweet. As you may have noticed, I have already made lots of paleo and gluten free pancakes. So, I decided to give gluten free crepes a try.

Orange Ginger Chicken Thighs & Yu Hsiang Eggplant

August 22, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

Chicken thighs are my new favorite dinner. They are easy to make, not very expensive, and very hard to overcook. Since I’m paranoid about undercooking chicken, I like a cut that can stand up to my tendency to cook things a little bit too long. Chicken thighs are also delicious, and the perfect size–not huge and dry like chicken breasts often are.

Salted Maple Caramel Peach Bars (Gluten free, Paleo)

August 20, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

When I decided to try the paleo lifestyle, one of my main concerns was whether I would still be able to have salted caramel. Salted caramel is an essential dessert flavor, one that I believe deserves a place right up there with chocolate and vanilla. If there wasn’t a way to make paleo salted caramel, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle it.

Figs & Pancetta

August 18, 2013 By Becky 6 Comments

This simple appetizer is an amazing way to showcase some delicious figs. I’d been wanting to wrap figs in prosciutto for a while now, but accidentally got slices of pancetta instead. I think in my mind I’d filed them as being the same thing. I did a little research and it seems like pancetta is thicker and less pliable, and cured with more spices than prosciutto. You can use either one here–prosciutto would probably be easier to wrap around the figs, and you might not even need the toothpicks.

Banana Pecan Pancakes

August 15, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

More pancakes! In case you missed it, I’ve already made three kinds: pancakes with blueberry compote, strawberry banana pancakes, and blueberry pancakes with a secret ingredient. So, there’s been no shortage of pancakes around here–but you can never have too many pancakes, right?

Banana Blueberry Muffins

August 14, 2013 By Becky 5 Comments

I have been on a quest to make delicious paleo & gluten-free muffins, because I can’t have eggs for breakfast every single day. This is the third time I’ve tried, and I finally have what I want: a moist, sweet muffin with a beautiful domed top that is bursting with blueberries in every bite. Best of all, these muffins taste like the real thing, not a gluten-free imitation.

Indochinese Chilli Chicken with Cauliflower Fried Rice

August 13, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

I LOVE Indian food. Luckily for me, my mom’s apartment is just blocks from Singh’s Cafe, which has a fabulous lunch buffet every day of the week. I go more than anyone should go anywhere, but I just love it so much. One of the best parts of going to lunch buffet is that there is no waiting: you show up, you sit down (or not), and you go get your food! I also love it because you can try some of everything.

Make Your Own Almond Milk

August 12, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

Here’s how to make your own almond milk at home. It’s paleo, vegan, and easy to make–and the results are way more delicious than store-bought versions!

Do you drink coffee? How do you take yours? Have you ever had to switch the way you make your morning coffee?
One of the hardest parts about the whole30 for me has been adjusting what I put in my coffee. I used to put lots of 2% milk and a little agave or stevia, plus sometimes a few drops of vanilla. It wasn’t that hard eliminating the sweetener, because I love the simple synergy of milk and coffee. Since I also love coconut milk, I thought that might be a great choice for my morning cup. But coconut milk is terrible in coffee. It’s too thick. Even light coconut milk in a carton is too thick (and has icky things like carageenan added to it). Coffee shouldn’t be viscous, so coconut milk is out.

The next thing I tried was almond milk. It’s hard to find unsweetened almond milk without too many additives, but the Whole Foods brand wasn’t too bad. And when I put that almond milk in my coffee, it was fine. I had to put a lot more almond milk than regular milk, because you can pour in a lot of almond milk before your coffee stops looking (and tasting) totally black. Anyway, coffee with store-bought almond milk is okay, but I figured I could do better.

This homemade almond milk is easy, and you can add a little whole30-friendly sweetness by putting in a few dried apricots (or dates). The ingredients list is short and wholesome, and the result is much more delicious than what you find at the store. Creamy and subtly sweet, this homemade almond milk is by far the best nondairy milk I’ve found to go with my morning coffee. Of course, it’s also great on its own or blended into smoothies.

This recipe makes lightly sweetened vanilla almond milk; just omit the vanilla and dried fruit if you would like to make plain almond milk.

Ingredients (makes about 2 and 1/2 cups; adapted from Choosing Raw):

1 cup raw almonds
Water for soaking
3 cups water
Pinch of salt
2-4 dried apricots or dates, pitted and soaked in hot water (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, omit for Whole30)

Equipment:

Cheesecloth or a nut milk bag

Soak the almonds in water to cover for at least two hours, or up to eight. Drain and rinse the almonds and discard the soaking water. Place the almonds, 3 cups of water, salt, apricots or dates, and vanilla in a blender. Blend on high speed for a minute or so until smooth.

Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place over a large bowl, or place a nut milk bag over a large jar, securing it with a rubber band. Pour the almond milk into the sieve or nut milk bag. Allow it to drain for up to an hour (or if you are impatient like me, squeeze the cheesecloth or bag to remove as much liquid as possible). Discard pulp, or save to use in smoothies. Store almond milk in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, and shake before using.

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