Creative paleo and gluten-free recipes
This post is sponsored by the North Carolina SweetPotato Commission.
With these six ways to top roasted sweet potatoes, everyone will be sure to find something they love. Pick one or two to make for dinner or go all out and try all six!
Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I’m here today to tell you about a delicious meal idea that, while not necessarily meant for Turkey Day itself, is certainly perfect for any busy night (or day or even morning) of the year when you need some fast and healthy grub.
This no-churn cherry ice cream is simple, ridiculously easy, and so good! What more could you ask for from a summer dessert? With a dairy-free option that’s vegan and paleo with no added sugar, everyone can indulge.
How do you feel about the dog days of summer? I may be alone in this, but I like them. I find extreme heat kind of comforting. I like how the air is almost palpable when the temperatures get high, as if it’s a blanket wrapped around you providing a bit of pressure. I made it through two Houston summers with no AC in my car (I still miss that ’89 Buick!) and now I’m relishing my first full hot summer here in the Tennessee Valley.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t also like to indulge in frozen treats when it’s hot out. We’re still living in a very small house, so my beloved ice cream maker is in storage. That means I’ve been turning to my favorite no-churn frozen treats time and time again, and this no-churn cherry ice cream is the one I make the most.
It’s unbelievably simple, and it tastes so good. I actually first made and shared this several years ago, but it was buried in the archives with terrible photos, so I know many of you never got to see it.
I took some time off from this ice cream because I always loved it so much made with coconut milk, and about a year ago I discovered that I’m allergic to coconut. However, recently I’ve been making this ice cream with heavy cream, and while it’s much less paleo it is still delicious. It’s hard to do a true comparison since I can’t taste the two versions side by side, but I think the coconut milk version is even a little better. Go for that unless you’re coconut averse or allergic like me! As a bonus, that means the ice cream is vegan as long as you don’t add any honey.
Roasted almonds and cashews with vanilla and chai spices make for an irresistible nut butter that’s vegan, paleo, and Whole30 compliant. You won’t miss the sugar that most flavored nut butters have!
This vanilla chai nut butter is my new favorite snack. It’s creamy, naturally sweet without any added sweeteners, and perfumed with the irresistible combination of vanilla and cardamom. It’s basically the vegan, Whole30-compliant, no sugar added, not-a-cookie version of my grain-free spiced shortbread. (Okay, maybe they’re not that similar after all! They do have the same enticing aroma and toasty vanilla and spice flavors, though.)
It’s amazing on dates, apple slices, carrot sticks, and spoons. Life is good and possibilities are endless when you have a jar of this stuff in the fridge!
I’m sharing the recipe for this vanilla chai nut butter over on Cook It Up Paleo this week. Heather of Cook It Up Paleo is an eighteen-year-old who develops all kinds of scrumptious and inventive recipes that make my teenage self look like such a slacker in retrospect. If you haven’t already visited her site, go right now! There is a chicken broccoli alfredo pizza on there that will be haunting my dreams until I make it the second my Whole30 is over…
Even though they’re paleo cookies made with almond butter, they taste very similar to traditional peanut butter cookies, and the crumbly, buttery cookie and creamy salted caramel are an unbeatable team.
We got a lot of snow in Boston last night, and the temperatures are hovering right around zero. I’ve been staying inside and cooking up a storm, mainly testing out recipes for my review of Cooking with Coconut Oil
Also, guess what? I found another blogger doing a Whole30! Even though she’s across the country in Austin, I’m still so happy not to be in this alone! Stop by Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine to say hi to Ashley and see what she’s cooking. She recently posted a Paleo taco casserole with sweet potatoes that looks amazing.
1. Ghee–This stuff is amazing. No wonder Indian food is always so delicious, since almost every recipe starts with ghee! It’s easy to make your own ghee at home. It smells so good, and tastes even better. Seriously, you might want to eat it with a spoon. It’s the only kind of dairy allowed on the Whole30, and I am so glad to have it. Non Whole30ers, you should still make this! It has a much higher smoke point than butter, so you can cook with it and not worry about it burning. Also, the flavor is just superior to regular butter in every way. Best of all, ghee is free of lactose and casein, so people with dairy intolerances are often able to enjoy it.
Learn how to make ghee with these step-by-step instructions from Nom Nom Paleo. If you’re looking for a Whole30-approved way to drink your coffee in the morning, you might want to try this Bulletproof Coffee from Stupid Easy Paleo that’s made with ghee and coconut oil. I also use my ghee to fry eggs and saute meat and vegetables.
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.
I am SO excited about this post. This ice cream is ridiculously good, ridiculously healthy, and ridiculously simple, and I have made it three times since I invented it two days ago. There are five ingredients, and you don’t need an ice cream maker. There are also NO sweeteners. This is the stuff dreams are made of. Well, my kind-of cheating whole30 dreams, at least.
